Bea's Fruity take on Nigella's Anglo-Asian Lamb Salad

I'm pretty new to blogging, both reading and writing, and a week or two ago I came across Maison Cupcake, a lovely, warm, honest blog I'm now following. I saw the Blogging Event, Forever Nigella (click here for more details), and this month Belleau Kitchen chose the theme of 'Salad Days'.  I just had to take part for two reasons; I LOVE Nigella (who doesn't!?) and my garden is being taken over by lettuce and mint that needs eating!  

Me and Nigella at her signing.
Yes, she looks, and is, beautiful? Me? I look like an idiot, all excitable.
Picture was taken on my mobile by my mum, hence the quality!

I met Nigella, once upon a time, at a book signing for Nigella Express, so I chose a recipe from MY SIGNED COPY, (that I've tried so hard to keep pristene but is now covered in food - Nigella would be proud) that I've adapted to suit my taste, cupboard and garden.  Anglo-Asian Lamb Salad has lots of lovely greenery, perfect for my lettuce overflow and also allowed me to use the chilli's from my chilli plant. Instead of the lamb loin suggested by Nigella, I spoke to my butcher who had a lovely piece of leg fillet that looked so tasty, I brought that home with me and sliced it in the middle to make it a little thinner. 

To make the salad more summery, I added some blanched sugar snap peas (a favourite of Nigellas) and some fresh raspberries; I love fruit in a salad and the market didn't have my original choice of pomegranate, but now I'm rather pleased; the raspberries worked a treat. Finally, I played with the dressing, making it fresher by using lime instead of rice vinegar.  I didn't have any fish sauce, so used a tablespoon of soy sauce instead of the teaspoon Nigella uses.   

I was nervous about changing Nigellas recipe for this feature in case everyone hated it; perhaps it'd be too much change? But I have to say, I loved it; the raspberries made it really fresh and took some of the spice of the chilli away and the sugar snap peas gave it some crunch. GORGEOUS.

Bea's Fruity take on Nigella's Anglo-Asian Lamb Salad!

Not a great picture (the storm outside was
against me, light-wise!) but look at those colours!

For the Salad

• 2 teaspoons olive oil
• 1 lamb leg fillet, approx. 250g, about 1 inch thick (or slice a large fillet in two)
• 2-3 large handfuls of mixed salad leaves
• 3 x 15ml tablespoons chopped mint
• 150g Sugar Snap Peas
• 100g raspberries

For the dressing

• 1 tbsp redcurrant jelly
• Juice of two limes
• 1 tablespoon soy sauce
• 1 red chilli, deseeded and finely chopped
• 1 spring onion, finely sliced

1. Heat the oil in a heavy based pan and pan fry the lamb for 5 minutes on one side and two minutes on the other.  Remove from the pan and place the lamb on a piece of foil and make a loose parcel, allowing the meat to rest.  This will give you nice pink meat.

2. Whilst the meat is resting, boil the peas for 1 minute then drain and rinse in cold water.

3. In a large bowl, mix all the dressing ingredients.

4. Prepare your plates with the salad leaves.

5. Open the lamb parcel and add the juices from the meat to the dressing.  Slice the meat, toss it in the dressing and then place the lamb on top of the salad leaves. 

(Nigella's tip - if you want your lamb more well done, leave in the dressing for longer.  The acid in the dressing will cook the meat.  My dressing is very acidic with the lime juice and cooks it very quickly, hence why I cook the lamb for 6 minutes and Nigella cooks it for 7 and a half).

6. Top with sugar snap peas then drizzle with the remaining dressing.

7. Finally, scatter the raspberries over the salad.

You can find the original Nigella recipe here.

Enjoy!

Carrot and Coriander Salad with Maple Lime Dressing

I had a late night. The pesky white wine kept working it's way into my glass and I just wanted my bed and a lie in the next morning. I went to bed and, a pint of water later, fell into a deep restful sleep.

It was 7.30am, the sun was rising and my bed was comfy, my head ached a teeny bit - nothing I couldn't handle, when I was rudely awakened. Bang, bang, bang on the door. 'Who the hell is that at the door!' my head screamed. I rolled (yes, literally rolled) out of bed and looked out of the window.

Postie!

Headache cleared, sleepy fog lifted, either the fruits of my online shopping binge had arrived or my winning Bake Sale bid! And I hoped it was the latter.

Hopping like a crazy lady (did I mention the pint of water before bed), I chased postie down the road - we're talking Royal Mail here; the fact he arrived before midday was a miracle, I couldn't rightly expect him to stay for longer that 5 seconds, surely? I digress. I caught him. I got my package and wandered back into the house, placed it carefully it on the table while I made a cup of tea (after answering the call of nature - too much information?).

These really are the best kinds of days. Despite my grumbling, I soon cheered up and opened my parcel to find my goodies from Susan at The Spice Garden. You may have seen from previous posts that The Tomato Tart held an online Bake Sale for Second Harvest for Japan, raising over a staggering $8k! I bid on Susan's lot and won! Feeling rather pleased with myself, I tore open the packaging to find a box of home made maple fudge, a maple leaf (for coffee, I'm told), a jug of maple syrup, a magazine from Susan's area and a lovely note. All this from New Hampshire, USA straight to Cheshire, UK, from a lady I never knew until I started blogging. The power of the Internet never ceases to amaze me.

I'm ashamed to say that, even though I promised myself I would make it last, the ludicrous amount of fudge Susan sent was gone pretty quickly. It was so, so, so good. Crumbly but smooth, spicy but sweet, woody but floral. I couldn't leave it alone. Susan, I'm in awe.

This was about three weeks ago and ever since, I've been waiting for the right moment and recipe to show off the maple syrup. I didn't want to use it on pancakes - it is too special; I didn't want to cook it - it is too pure. No, it needed to be used raw, fresh and so you knew it was there, you just couldn't put your finger on the smoky but sweet taste. The moment arrived yesterday when my fabulous neighbours came for a barbeque to make the most of our early (and probably only) summer, in the shape of a Carrot and Coriander Salad with Maple Lime Dressing.

This little salad worked perfectly with the smokey barbequed meat. The sweetness of the syrup contrasted with the zingy lime, both of which take the heat from and complement the spiciness of the chilli. This dressing, poured over a classic carrot, corriander and cashew salad is really special. Carrots and maple syrup are a classic combination and this paring steals the show in this side dish that stands front and centre.

Thanks Susan, this was the best package I've received in a long time

Carrot and Coriander Salad with Maple Lime Dressing

Serves 8 as a side with other salads.

• 2 tbsp lime juice
• 1 tbsp maple syrup
• Half red chilli, de-seeded and finely chopped
• 400g grated carrot
• two pints boiling water
• Large bunch coriander, leaves torn
• 3 tbsp toasted cashew nuts, broken into pieces

1. In a small bowl, whisk the lime juice, maple syrup and chilli with a fork.

2. Place the carrot in a colander and pour the boiling water over and then rinse with cold. Drain very well, and gently squeeze the carrot to remove any remaining water.

3. Toss the coriander and cashew nuts with the carrot in a large bowl. Pour over the dressing and toss with a spoon to dress. Serve at room temperature.

Enjoy!

P.S. On Wednesday my lot on Bloggers Bake for Hope goes on sale to raise money for  Massachusetts Komen for the Cure.  I tried to find something I could post to the US as the bake sale is held there and most likely that any winning bidder will be there too, so my Gorgeously Good Granola is up for grabs - please bid for a fantastic cause.