Summer salads

It seems a bit strange to be sitting here writing about summer salads on 2 July wearing a fleece and long trousers. The weather here has taken a turn for the worse and for the last few days we’ve endured torrential rain and chilly winds. Nothing like the 38c temperatures that we were enjoying (and at the same time, complaining about) the previous week. I do love to eat more salads in summer, and it’s usually a good choice for vegetarians eating out in France, although you will need to remind the restaurant ‘sans lardons ou poisson’ as they’re fond of scattering a few fried bacon bits over your goats cheese, honey and walnut salad.

I remember one of my early visits to France in the late 1980s, where we stayed at a lovely authentic auberge in the Loire valley. After the main course of the evening meal the young waitress brought a large bowl of lettuce to the table and proceeded to toss it with vinaigrette before carefully distributing the glossy leaves onto our plates. As someone more used to the plain English fodder and ‘sad salad’ of the Midlands in the eighties it was probably the first time that I had encountered a dressed salad; now I would never eat plain lettuce without a dressing.

Historically, salads have been popular since Greek and Roman times, and were often quite complex arrangements of meat and vegetables. The advantage to the chef, of course, was that they did not need to be cooked, so there was no need to ensure a fire was roaring in the kitchen. Even in those days, not everyone was a fan of salad. There were some who thought that raw vegetables were good for the digestion, and conversely, others who considered that uncooked food was too cold and induced indescribable illnesses and maladies.

The French are very keen on their salads; both the plain salade verte which tends to be served as a separate course, after the main or before or with the cheese course, as a digestion cleanser. In fact, the word ‘salad’ has a French origin – salade, from the Latin word salata, meaning salted or seasoned. A French salad, however plain, will always be dressed. There’s no need to buy bottles of pre-prepared ingredients with their long list of preservatives. Just use olive oil and vinegar in a 3:1 proportion, a pinch of salt and a squidge of Dijon mustard for a simple dressing.

Salad here falls into two categories: tossed and composed; salade verte and salade composée. The tossed salad is simple, as it name infers, a green salad or perhaps these days mixed leaves or mache, tossed with a dressing. A salade composée is a much more elaborate affair, with carefully chopped, sliced, and trimmed ingredients deliberately arranged on the plate and then drizzled with a dressing, never tossed. In her French Provincial Cooking Elizabeth David suggests that the well-composed salad will include: something raw, something salty, something dry, something gentle and smooth, and optionally, something fishy. The traditional salade niçoise being a good example.

It’s easy to assemble a wide variety of vegetarian and vegan salads, including the three French favourites salade verte, salade composée and salade niçoise. When making a salade niçoise, I just substitute the fishy anchovies with capers, and for a vegan version leave off the boiled eggs. There are many other regional salads to look out for in France, although you will find that many are based around meat. For example, I steer well clear of our local speciality the salade périgoudine which is based on gésiers (duck) and I didn’t even finish reading the recipe of salade Lyonnaise once I reached pigs’ trotters. However, this salad recipe, given to me by my friend Jane, comes from the French speaking part of Belgium, Liege. The salade liegoise is easily veganised with some soya lardons, or if these aren’t available, finely sliced and fried smoked tofu.

 

Jane's Belgian Salad

                 
              Spring onions, finely sliced, white part only
              400g salad potatoes
               Green haricot beans
               Soya lardons or finely sliced smoked tofu
               2 or 3 tbsp red wine or cider vinegar
               2 or 3 tbsp olive oil
               Salt and pepper
               Handful of chopped walnuts

·         Slice the raw onion finely and layer in bottom of large salad bowl

·         Sliced potatoes and boil in salted water, drain and while still warm layer over the onions, cover with foil or a plate to keep warm

·         Boil or microwave the green beans

·         Fry the soya lardons or smoked tofu in a little olive oil, when browned add the beans to the pan, warm through then place on top of potatoes

·         Add a couple of tablespoons of vinegar to the pan to de-glaze, then add olive oil and season

·         Pour mix over the salad and sprinkle with chopped walnuts