Busy busy busy..... thats how its been! But not too busy for creating some new recipes for the Cafe!
Thought I'd share some of the newest salads that we have tried out on the Rattle Gill Salad plate...being that its the summer season now and everyone eats salad at such times...right?!
This one was inspired by the arrival of a sample pack from Suma Wholefoods. They sent us some Wild Black rice to try. YES! Its good in this salad...YUMMY! We shall call him 'Black Rice salad with Roasted butternut squash'. We literally couldn't get enough of it, and it works happily on its own or as an accompaniment to ANYTHING!
Recipe:
1 Butternut, peeled and cubed.
2tbsp Cumin seeds
250g black rice
140g sultanas
100g flaked almonds
bunch of flat leaf parsley, finely chopped.
1 red onion, finely chopped
Method:
Heat your oven to 200C.Put the Butternut squash on a baking tray, drizzle with olive oil, scatter the Cumin seeds and season with Salt and Pepper. give it all a good mix up, so the squash is coated. Bake for 30 minutes. Take out and leave to cool.
Cook the Rice according to the instructions, and be sure to cook it so it still has some bite...say NO to soggy rice! Leave to cool once cooked.
Put all other ingredients in a bowl, with the cooled rice and Butternut, then make the dressing:
Dressing:
Whisk the below together and then pour over the other salad ingredients.
Zest and Juice of an Orange
4tbsp honey
4tbsp olive oil
2tbsp white wine vinegar
Salt and Pepper.
This is best left a while so that the flavours of the dressing can infuse into the rice and other goodies. If I don't have any Butternut squash, it also works well with carrots, they just need roasting longer!
These 3 salads are really good friends.... A Pasta pesto with roasted Tomatoes and Spinach, A Black eyed Bean salad with a parsley vinegarette, and Our homemade Tomato Salsa.
The Salsa goes with so many different dishes and is super refreshing as it has lime juice and coriander in.
Tomato Salsa Recipe:
Finely chop everything below and then mix it all up!
250g Tomato
3 spring onions
1 clove of garlic
handful of corinader
Then Add:
drizzle of Extra Virgin olive oil,
Juice of a lime
Salt and Pepper
1tsp chilli flakes.
Mix it all up and if you like it hotter add more chilli flakes! We love having this with our Homebaked Smokey Black Beans and lots of creamy creme Fraiche! It also works well with cheddar cheese in a sandwich!
We have had a mini celebration in the fact that the Road has re-opened up to Keswick! It is quite an amazing bit of engineering work that has been achieved and to drive along where 'The Gap' was, you wouldn't even know anything had ever happened! Good work team!
See you all soon for Salads and then of course the obligatory slice of cake!
Claire and Alec xx