Wild blackberry and fresh goat cheese salad

My summer vacations came to an end. Today I go back to work. It is time to reopen my organizer and starting make plans and scheduling tasks along the week. It is time to choose a book to be read on public transportation. Preferably a novel that makes me dream. It is time to look more closely at the wardrobe. It is time to return to the working day routine. It still seems like it was yesterday I went on vacation. Time really flies, that is why it so precious.

Today's recipe has a bit of nostalgia because some of its ingredients make me remember the recent holidays. It uses wild blackberries that were picked on a very hot day I spent in Santarém and the bresaola that I brought from my trip to Italy.

Ingredients:
mixed greens (lettuce, arugula and lamb's lettuce)
4 tablespoons wild blackberries
2 fresh goat cheeses
6 slices of bresaola or dry-cured ham
salt and pepper
balsamic vinegar to taste
olive oil to taste


1. Cut the fresh goat cheeses into small cubes.

2. In a bowl put the mixture of greens. Add the cheese, slices of bresaola and the blackberries.

3. Season with salt and pepper to taste. Sprinkle with olive oil and some balsamic vinegar. Stir and serve.


This salad turned out to be very nice. The blackberries combine very well with the cheese and the bresaola's saltiness.

A salad with a zest of vacation that can also help balance the excesses committed at the table on these days of August. It is time to start thinking about the diet! ;)

To all those who return today or have already returned to work, wishes for a great day!


Other recipes with blackberries (written in Portuguese):
- Blackberry mousse;
- Grilled salmon with wild blackberry sauce.

[ Originally published in Portuguese as Salada de amoras silvestres com queijo de cabra fresco ]

Lentil and salmon salad with roasted tomato

Tomato is one of the vegetables and fruits that really shines in the summer, specially in August. Due to the huge quantity of tomato that arrived to my kitchen on last Saturday coming from my parents garden, I have decided to make tomato as the theme of this week's posts.

Throughout the week I will publish different suggestions for use - and abuse - of fresh and appetizing in season ripe tomatoes.

Ingredients:
2 salmon fillets
175g cooked lentils
2 shallots, chopped or sliced
olive oil and red wine vinegar
roasted tomatoes with herbs
salt and pepper


1. Broil the salmon seasoned with salt and pepper.

2. In a bowl mix the chipped grilled salmon with lentils and shallots. Season with salt, pepper, olive oil and vinegar to taste.

3. Accompany the salad with roasted tomatoes.


Herb Roasted Tomatoes

Ingredients:
8 tomatoes
3 garlic cloves
6 tablespoons olive oil
1 sprig rosemary
1 sprig fresh oregano
3 bay leaves
fresh chives
salt and pepper


1. Cut the tomatoes in halves.

2. Place the halves on a baking sheet with the cut side up. The tomatoes should not be overlapped. Add the garlic and bay leaves.

3. Season with salt and pepper, rosemary leaves, fresh oregano and chopped chives. Sprinkle with olive oil and put it in a 210ºC preheated oven. Let it roast for about 40 minutes.


The roasted tomato was delicious and really shone on this salad.

[ Originally published in Portuguese as Salada de lentilhas com salmão e tomate assado ]

A salad with a zest of vacations

The day has finally came! The feeling is one of freedom and relaxation. Even so, I have already started to make plans and writing lists of what I want to do on this vacations. Time flies. I haven't done anything and I have already a feeling that I won't get everything done.

Before I start publicizing what I have planned reading, which movies to watch, etc., I first wanted to celebrate the beginning of this holidays with a light, simple and tasty canned white bean and tuna salad.

Ingredients:
70g lettuce and arugula
1/2 roasted red peppers
1/2 roasted green pepper
1 red onion
3 roma tomatoes
300g cooked canned white beans
2 cans of tuna
olive oil
vinegar
salt and pepper

1. In a bowl combine the lettuce leaves and arugula, roasted peppers cut into small strips, sliced ​​onions, sliced ​​tomatoes, canned beans and the previously drained cans of tuna.

2. Season with salt, pepper, vinegar and olive oil to taste. Stir and serve.


This salad, like most of the salads I have prepared, was made ​​with the ingredients I had close at hand. And it tasted lovely!

[ Originally published in Portuguese as Uma salada a saber a férias ]

Pearl couscous with pesto, feta cheese and shrimp

In the days preceding the summer holidays when the idea of vacations dominates almost everything we do, it is a good thing to have one or two recipes handy. Here at home, this pear couscous with pesto salad is one of them. The ingredients may change according to one's taste and preferences. For example, you can easily use chicken instead of shrimp and the result still is pretty good.

Ingredients:
250g pearl couscous
200g prawns
300g peas
100g feta cheese, in cubes
1 red onion, chopped
4 tablespoons pesto
salt to taste


1. Boil in different containers, the pearl couscous, peas and shrimp. Drain after being cooked.

2. Place the pearl couscous, peas and shrimp in a bowl. Add feta cheese as cut in cubes and the diced red onion.

3. Add the pesto and a little bit of salt. Stir and serve.


This salad can be served warm or cold. It is usually very difficult to stop eating it.

[ Originally published in Portuguese as Massinha couscous com pesto, queijo feta e camarão ]

Watermelon, mozzarella and olives skewers

It is commonly said that "there is no accounting for taste", nevertheless I find myself constantly wondering why I don't fancy watermelon very much. I concede that it is very suited to be eaten in the summer. A chilled slice of watermelon in a hot summer day is a marvelous sensation.

Recognizing, thus, the value of the watermelon, since last year I have been using this summer fruit. Last year, I used it in juices and in one salad. This year, seeing the recipe of watermelon skewers in the July 2011 Continente magazine, with such a tempting look, I could not resist and do it.

Ingredients:
500g peeled and seedless watermelon
150g mozzarella snack cheese
100g pitted green olives
fleur de sel and freshly grounded pepper to taste
olive oil to taste
20 wooden skewers


1. Make small balls of watermelon with a Paris spoon (a spoon fitted for this purpose). Put aside.

2. Drain the cheese and olives.

3. Place the ingredients in separate bowls.

4. Begin putting a watermelon ball on a skewer, then alternate with cheese and olives and finish again with the watermelon.

5. Place the skewers on a platter. Season with olive oil, fleur de sel and pepper.


This can be an interesting solution for a quick and fresh starter, for example, to served at lunch with friends or family.

Here, at home, this combination of watermelon, olives and mozzarella cheese was also served as a salad. I laid out on a platter the previous ingredients, along with green leaves and seasoned it all with salt, pepper, olive oil and vinegar. After all, watermelon can be used in many ways!

[ Originally published in Portuguese as Espetada de melancia, mozzarela e azeitonas ]

Potato, purslane and capers salad

In the last couple of years I started using purslane. I grew up looking at them as weeds that selfishly invaded the gardens in order to take advantage of the freshness between the greens and thought that they were of no interest to human consumption. I began using them in soups - I haven't tried yet the famous purslane and cheese soup from Alentejo, but it is in my to-do list! - and only since then I started using purslane in salads. I spotted the recipe of today's salad in the Kahakai Kitchen blog.

Ingredients:
400g potatoes
1 sheaf of purslane
1 chopped onion
1 tablespoon capers

For the sauce:
1 tablespoon lemon juice
1 tablespoon red wine vinegar
1 tablespoon mustard powder
4 tablespoons olive oil
1 minced garlic clove
salt and pepper to taste


1. Cut the potatoes in half and boil them in water. Once cooked, leave to cool.

2. Prepare the purslane by removing leaves and small twigs. Wash and drain.

3. In a bowl put the onion, purslane and the cooked potatoes cut as cubes.

4. For the sauce, mix all ingredients in a bowl and stir with a wire rod.

5. Pour the sauce over the salad, stir and serve.


This salad was the garnish of some grilled lamb chops.

The purslane I used was hand picked by me in my parent's garden. Nowadays, it is easy to find it in local supermarkets.

Other recipes with purslane (written in Portuguese):
- Purslane with baked beans and tomato soup;
- Purslane, egg and oregano soup;
- Zucchini with basil and purslane soup;
- Poached eggs in tomato sauce with purslane;
- Figs with Roquefort cheese and toasted pine nuts salad;
- Purslane, peach and cheese salad;
- Purslane, tomato and onion salad.

[ Originally published in Portuguese as Salada de batata com beldroegas e alcaparras ]