I’m a firm believer in the mantra, ‘if it’s easy to make, it will be easy to

eat’, and your family and guests will love you for it. My food style has
always been about simply presented, delicious fresh food. These are ten
much-loved and tried-and-tested salad recipes from my two popular cook
books, Everlasting Feast and The Confident Cook.

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 CONTENTS

Spring Salad of Apple, Celery, Walnuts & Blue Cheese

New Potato Salad
Asparagus, Potato and Salmon Salad
Duck Breast Salad with Beetroot, Greens, Potatoes & Walnuts
Greek Country Salad
Matakana Salad of Oranges, Beetroot, Watercress & Fried Haloumi
Tomato, Lemon & Avocado Salad with Lemon Cream Dressing
Salad Rouge
Fresh Tomato Salad with Lemon & Basil
Spring Salad with Mint Labneh

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SPRING SALAD OF APPLE, CELERY,
WALNUTS & BLUE CHEESE

Serves 4
This large salad makes a complete meal, including as it does a variety of
protein and vegetable ingredients. I love to fill a big platter with fresh
green leaves, eggs or cheese, nuts and slices of fruit. For this recipe, a
scented salad of apple and blue cheese, all you’ll need to complete your
lunch is some crusty wholemeal bread. I like to use Mahana Red apples
and Whitestone Windsor Blue cheese, and the walnuts must be fresh or
you risk them tasting bitter.
75g freshly shelled walnuts
2 cups salad leaves (mesclun, baby spinach)
1 cup baby watercress
3 stalks celery (inner pale stalk and leaves)
2 crisp red apples
juice of 2 lemons
50g blue cheese, crumbled

DRESSING
20g blue cheese
100g crème fraîche
juice of 1 lemon

Pre-heat the oven to 170°C. Place the walnuts on a tray and toast in the
oven for about 7 minutes. Allow to cool.
Wash and dry all the salad leaves and watercress after picking over
and removing any thick stalks. Place in a serving bowl.
Cut off the celery leaves and chop roughly. Cut the celery stalks into
thin batons. Place these in the bowl with the leaves.
 Core the apples, then cut each apple into thin slices and toss in the
lemon juice. Add the apple, walnuts and crumbled blue cheese to the
salad leaves.
Whisk the dressing ingredients together and drizzle over the salad,
tossing very lightly. Serve at once with steak or as an entrée.
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NEW POTATO SALAD

Serves 12
The freshly dug potatoes I can buy on the farm stands near Omaha are
my favourites. They grow in dark peaty soil and develop more flavour
than any other potatoes I have tasted. This potato salad (recipe easily
halved) is the perfect dish to cook up when potatoes are young and
tender, and it’s a terrific recipe to take to a barbecue and for casual
summer entertaining for a crowd. It is my best ever.
2kg tiny new potatoes, scrubbed well
200g snow peas, finely sliced
2 tbsp olive oil
2–3 tbsp salted capers
½ cup mayonnaise
4 spring onions, finely sliced in rings
½ cup finely sliced mint

Cover the potatoes with water in a saucepan, add plenty of salt and bring
to a simmer. Allow to simmer for 15 minutes, then drain well.
Blanch the sliced snow peas for 30 seconds and refresh under cold
water immediately (this will keep them crisp and green). Heat the oil in a
small frying pan and fry the capers until they are crunchy (about 2
minutes).
Place the potatoes in a serving bowl and carefully toss with the
mayonnaise, then add the rest of the ingredients and toss together very
lightly. Serve at once while the potatoes are still warm; or, if making
ahead, ensure the salad is at room temperature to serve.
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ASPARAGUS, POTATO & SALMON
SALAD

Serves 4
I love the combination of flavours in this salad. Three ingredients vie to
be the hero: asparagus, baby new potatoes and rich hot-smoked salmon.
This is a fabulous spring luncheon dish, or it can be used as an entrée or
as part of a buffet. It’s equally good made ahead, refrigerated, and
brought back to room temperature for serving.
500g baby new potatoes, scrubbed well
300g asparagus spears, peeled and cut into 6cm lengths
300g hot-smoked salmon at room temperature
2 limes, peeled with a knife and cut into segments

DRESSING
1 lime, zest and juice
6 tbsp olive oil
2 small chillies, de-seeded and very finely sliced
1 tsp Dijon-style mustard
small pinch of sugar to taste
small bunch of chives, cut into 3cm lengths

Cover the potatoes with water in a saucepan, add salt and bring to a
simmer. Cook until tender (about 15 minutes), then drain.
Meanwhile, bring another saucepan of salted water to a simmer and
plunge the asparagus into this. Simmer for 3–4 minutes, then drain and
refresh under cold running water to retain the bright green colour.
Break the salmon into bite-sized chunks. Make the dressing by
placing the lime juice and zest, olive oil, chillies, mustard, sugar and salt
and freshly ground black pepper to taste in a bowl, and whisking
together.
Place the warm potatoes, asparagus, salmon and lime segments in a
serving bowl, and toss very gently together with the dressing to coat all
ingredients. Take care not to break up the salmon chunks or damage the
asparagus. Finally, scatter over the chives and serve.
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DUCK BREAST SALAD WITH
BEETROOT, GREENS, POTATOES &
WALNUTS

Serves 4
This salad has become one of my signature recipes, and is a study in
contrasts. It’s always lovely to have the four main flavours — sweet,
salty, sour and bitter — together in a dish. By adding honey to the
walnuts you get the sensation of bitter and sweet at once. I also like to
ensure that the salad has a few bitter greens as well as tender young
sweet leaves. Duck breast served rare is the rule as it’s juicy, but do
remember to rest the cooked duck for at least 10 minutes.
I loved the photo Elizabeth Clarkson took of this salad for the New
Zealand Listener so much that I put it on the back of my business card.
When we were recently in Japan, the chef in a kaiseki restaurant in Kyoto
became so excited when he saw it that he added an extra course of
quickly seared duck to our menu. It was superb.
10 baby beetroot
2 large waxy potatoes
3 tbsp duck fat
handful of fresh walnuts
1 tbsp liquid honey
3 tbsp olive oil
2 large duck breasts
3 cups fresh mixed salad leaves and herbs
few opal basil leaves and herb flowers to decorate
juice of 1 lemon
Pre-heat the oven to 170°C. Prepare all the ingredients. Boil the baby
beetroot in water until tender (about 25 minutes), then peel and cut into
halves. Peel and slice the potatoes and blanch in boiling water for 5
minutes. Melt the duck fat in a heavy frying pan, and gently fry the
potatoes until golden and tender.
Toss the walnuts in a roasting pan, coating with the honey and 1
tablespoon of the oil, and roast in the oven for 5–7 minutes until they are
crisp. Turn out onto baking paper and allow to cool.
Slash the duck skin in a criss-cross pattern and generously season
both sides with salt and freshly ground black pepper. Heat the remaining
oil in a heavy-bottomed frying pan and add the duck, skinside down.
Reduce the heat to low, and cook for 15 minutes until the skin is crisp
and much of the fat has been released. Turn the breast over and cook for
2–3 minutes. Remove and allow the duck breasts to rest for 10 minutes
before slicing.
To assemble the salad, wash the leaves and herbs, dry them carefully
and spread on a large serving platter. Evenly scatter the beetroot,
potatoes, walnuts and duck slices over. Finish with the basil leaves and
flowers, and drizzle a little of the hot duck fat and the lemon juice over
everything.
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GREEK COUNTRY SALAD

Serves 6
On my return home from Greece, I hankered after the flavours I’d
enjoyed. At almost every meal some version of this salad was served. It’s
refreshing, and easy to make. I was inspired to make it after spotting a
similar recipe my friend Rosemary Barron has written in her definitive
book, Flavours of Greece. This is a wonderful salad to make when the
outdoor summer tomatoes are rich and ripe.
1 cucumber
4 large ripe tomatoes
½ tsp sugar
2 handfuls of salad leaves (rocket, watercress or cos)
2 small red onions, sliced into very thin rings
15 kalamata olives, drained
250g feta cheese (I like Zany Zeus), broken into bite-sized pieces
2 tbsp salted capers, rinsed
3 tbsp dried oregano
4 tbsp chopped flat-leaf parsley
5 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
1 lemon, zest and juice

Trim and peel the cucumber. Cut in half lengthways, then into 1cm slices
to make half-moons. Cut the tomatoes into neat wedges.
Combine the cucumber and tomato and sprinkle with the sugar and
some salt to taste. Set aside for 10 minutes.
On a large serving platter gently combine the salad leaves, red onion,
olives and feta cheese. Add the tomatoes and cucumber, and sprinkle the
capers and chopped herbs over.
 Finally, add the olive oil, lemon zest and juice and very gently tumble
everything together. Serve at once.
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MATAKANA SALAD OF ORANGES,
BEETROOT, WATERCRESS & FRIED
HALOUMI

Serves 6
Inspired by the following ingredients I gathered from Matakana Farmers’
Market one recent Saturday, this deliciously fresh salad made a lovely
lunch with friends. All I needed to accompany it was a crusty ciabatta
loaf from the boutique Pukeko Bakery, bread that’s trucked to several
farmers’ markets around Auckland.
12 baby beetroot
3 large oranges, peeled with a knife
½ cup fresh hazelnuts, roasted in a hot oven until golden, then very roughly chopped
2 cups young watercress, washed and stalks removed
12 thick slices haloumi cheese
4 tbsp light-style olive oil
½ cup mint leaves, sliced

DRESSING
3 tbsp sherry vinegar
6 tbsp extra virgin olive oil

Simmer the beetroot in water until tender. Remove, allow to cool, and
peel the skins off. Cut the oranges into segments and place in a bowl with
the hazelnuts and watercress. Mix the dressing ingredients, pour over the
salad and toss together. Divide the salad between six plates and add baby
beetroot to each plate.
To grill the cheese, heat the oil in a heavy-bottomed frying pan.
 Add the cheese and very gently cook it on each side until it turns
golden and the centre is molten. Top each salad with two hot slices of
cheese, scatter over the mint leaves, and serve at once.
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TOMATO, LEMON & AVOCADO
SALAD WITH LEMON CREAM
DRESSING

Serves 6
At the height of the summer, farmers’ markets are filled with ripe outdoor
tomatoes. There’s been such a return to growing heirloom and heritage
tomatoes, and although these might not have the keeping qualities of the
modern hot-house-produced fruit, they’re filled with flavour. This recipe
is a favourite of mine whenever I can buy a paper bag full of tomatoes of
mixed size and hue. My mother first suggested using cream and lemon
together as a dressing, and it works wonderfully well here.
1kg mixed ripe tomatoes
2 avocados
2 lemons
100ml cream
handful of basil and mint leaves

Slice the tomatoes and lay them on a flat or shallow serving platter.
Remove the skin and stone from the avocado and slice neatly. Lay
these slices over the tomatoes. Peel one of the lemons with a knife,
removing all the skin and pith. Cut tiny wedges of lemon and sprinkle
these over the tomatoes, together with a little salt and freshly ground
black pepper. Grate the zest of the remaining lemon over the tomatoes.
To make the dressing, mix the cream with the juice of the second
lemon, adding salt and pepper to taste. Allow to stand for about 10
minutes so that the cream thickens. Drizzle the dressing over the salad,
and finally scatter the leaves of basil and mint over the top.
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SALAD ROUGE

Serves 10–12
My ultimate festive vegetable dish. Prepare everything ahead and
refrigerate, but bring back to room temperature before serving.
5 small red peppers, de-seeded, stalks and membranes removed and cut into wedges
3 small red onions, peeled and cut into wedges
4 medium beetroot
4 large carrots, peeled and cut into neat diagonal slices
2 large acid-free tomatoes
handful of fresh basil leaves for garnish

DRESSING
juice and zest of 1 orange, with zest cut into thin strips and briefly blanched
1 tbsp runny honey
¼ cup olive oil

Pre-heat the oven to 180°C. Roast the pepper and onion wedges until soft
and mellow (about 25 minutes). Keep aside.
To prepare the beetroot, boil in water for about 40 minutes until
tender, then drain, allow to cool and remove the skins. Cut into rough
chunks.
To prepare the carrots, add a pinch of sugar and cook in salted water
for about 10 minutes, until soft but not mushy. Drain and keep aside.
Wash the tomatoes well and cut into neat chunks. Make the dressing
by mixing everything together in a small screw-top jar and season with
salt and freshly ground black pepper.
Place the vegetables on a large white platter, and drizzle over the
dressing. Garnish with a few torn basil leaves and serve at room
temperature.
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FRESH TOMATO SALAD WITH
LEMON & BASIL

Serves 8
This fresh salad is a summer tomato celebration. Find as many varieties
and sizes of tomatoes as you can. It’s a salad dressed with lemon zest,
basil and olive oil, but not with vinegar or lemon juice as tomatoes have
plenty of natural acidity. Adding more will only make the juices run and
give a sharp taste to the finished dish.
2kg mixed ripe tomatoes, comprised of:
2 large beefsteak tomatoes, sliced horizontally
1 punnet yellow cherry tomatoes
1 punnet orange or yellow cherry tomatoes, cut in half
3–4 crimson-pink acid-free tomatoes, cut into wedges
3–4 Roma tomatoes, cut into wedges
3–4 small-to-medium ripe round tomatoes, sliced
1 small red onion, sliced paper thin
zest of 1 lemon
salt and freshly ground black pepper
pinch sugar
4 tbsp light, fruity extra virgin olive oil
handful fresh basil leaves to serve

Cut the tomatoes as suggested. Arrange on a large flat platter. Don’t pile
on top of each other as they become ‘clammy’.
Sprinkle the sliced red onion and the lemon zest over the tomatoes
and season with plenty of salt and pepper as well as a little sugar. Drizzle
the olive oil over the salad and scatter some finely sliced basil leaves on
top.
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SPRING SALAD WITH MINT LABNEH

Serves 6
A refreshing Middle Eastern-inspired salad that uses the first of the
spring vegetables and can be served as a lunch dish or a starter. Serve
with mint labneh (note that you need to start on this the day before) or
make a simple dressing of lemon juice and extra virgin olive oil.
MINT LABNEH
1 tsp salt
400g plain unsweetened yoghurt
handful fresh mint leaves, chopped

SALAD
20 asparagus spears
2 small courgettes, sliced lengthwise
12 baby leeks
12–15 snow peas
20 baby carrots, peeled, with tops on
12 baby potatoes, sliced in half
2 tbsp extra virgin olive oil to serve
sprigs young mint
1 tsp ground sumac
salt and freshly ground black pepper

TO SERVE
extra virgin olive oil
warmed flatbread

Mix the salt and yoghurt, and then drain through a sieve lined with
scrupulously clean muslin so all excess liquid drips away. Next day, put
the drained yoghurt, which will have the texture of creamy cheese, in a
bowl and beat until soft and smooth. Add the chopped mint, taste for
saltiness and adjust if necessary. Place in a serving dish.
Prepare the vegetables by trimming and slicing into evenly sized
strips. Cook the asparagus, courgettes, leeks and snow peas separately for
one to two minutes in salted boiling water and then refresh under cold
water. Simmer the carrots and potatoes in salted water until tender.
To serve, pile vegetables on a platter and sprinkle with the olive oil.
Scatter the sprigs of mint and the sumac over the top with a little extra
salt and pepper.
Drizzle labneh with extra virgin olive oil and hand around separately
with flatbread. (Alternatively, drizzle olive oil and scatter some sumac
over the flatbread and heat gently in the oven.)
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ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Lauraine Jacobs, author of The Confident Cook, Matakana, Everlasting

Feast and several other award-winning cookbooks and a former food
editor and restaurant-award judge of Cuisine magazine, writes the New
Zealand Listener’s weekly food column. Cordon Bleu trained, she is a
great authority on and champion of New Zealand’s food and wine
producers. She divides her time between Auckland and Omaha, north of
Auckland.
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OTHER BOOKS BY THE AUTHOR

The Confident Cook

Matakana
The New Zealand Vegetable Cookbook
A Treasury of New Zealand Baking (editor)
Everlasting Feast

www.facebook.com/randomhousenewzealand

www.twitter.com/RHNZ

www.randomhouse.co.nz

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Also available in this series
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This edition first published 2014
© 2014 recipes Lauraine Jacobs, photography Elizabeth Clarkson, except Fresh
Tomato Salad and Spring Salad with Mint Labneh, Kieran Scott
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