Ewe’s cheese salad from The Hidden Hut

Inspired by his Cornish café’s coastal setting, chef and owner of the Hidden Hut, Simon Stallard, picks favourite summer dishes for morning, noon and night on page 38 of June’s The Simple Things.

Want to make the Ewe’s cheese salad to accompany the 12-hour lamb with smoky aubergine? Here’s the recipe.  

Ewe’s cheese salad from The Hidden Hut

60g pumpkin seeds
160g bulgar wheat
4 tbsp lemon juice
4 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
80g mint leaves, roughly chopped
120g parsley leaves, roughly chopped
1 small red onion, finely sliced
1.2kg watermelon flesh, chopped into 2.5cm cubes
350g ewe’s cheese or feta
Sumac, for sprinkling

1 Toast the pumpkin seeds in a dry saucepan over a medium-high heat for 3 mins or until lightly browned, shaking the pan regularly. Put to one side.

2 Place the bulgar wheat in a small saucepan and just cover with water. Put a lid on and cook over a low heat for 8–10 mins until the water is absorbed and the grains are tender. Leave to cool completely.

3 Combine the lemon juice and oil in a small bowl and season well with salt and pepper.

4 In a large mixing bowl, combine the mint, parsley, onion and watermelon. Tip in the lemon juice dressing and toss everything to coat.

5 Transfer the salad to a large serving plate. Crumble the cheese over the top of the salad, then sprinkle over the toasted pumpkin seeds. Finish with a sprinkle of sumac.

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View the sampler here.

More from the June issue:

More summer recipes:

Recipe | Strawberry and pesto pasta salad

Strawberries and pasta? Why not! This fun and colourful salad has a bounty of fresh fruit and veg and the pesto avocado dressing is creamy yet light. Enjoy in the sunshine with a glass of something cold.

Strawberry and pesto pasta salad

300g dry pasta
1 broccoli, head and stalk
2 carrots, tops removed and peeled
250g fresh strawberries, hulled
1 nectarine, sliced
1 handful cherry tomatoes, halved
1 x 400g tin chickpeas, drained
1 handful fresh basil leaves
Pesto and avocado dressing:
75g homemade* or shop-bought pesto
1 ripe avocado
4 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
Juice of half a lemon
To serve:
Shavings of pecorino or parmesan
Toasted pine nuts
Extra virgin olive oil

1 Cook the pasta until al dente.
2 Meanwhile, cut the broccoli into small florets, trim and roughly chop stalks and place in a sieve over the pasta water during the last few minutes of cooking. Drain pasta and broccoli and set aside.
3 Place all the dressing ingredients in a bowl, season and mash until combined.
4 Thinly slice the carrots, quarter the strawberries, slice the nectarine and halve the tomatoes. Transfer the pasta and broccoli to a large serving bowl, add the rest of the ingredients and dressing and gently toss to coat. Add a dash of water if you need to loosen the dressing.
5 Serve topped with pecorino, a sprinkling of pine nuts, seasoning and a drizzle of oil.

*To make homemade pesto, you will need:

100g fresh basil, leaves and stems picked
60g grana padano or parmesan, grated
50g pine nuts, toasted
80ml extra virgin olive oil
2 tbsp lemon juice
1 clove of garlic, peeled

Place all of the ingredients in a food processor or blender, season to taste and blend until well combined. Store the pesto in the fridge in a sealable glass jar and it will keep for about a week. Alternatively, roll it into a log using a sheet of greaseproof paper and store it in the freezer.

Taken from Green Kitchen at Home by David Frenkiel and Luise Vindahl (Hardie Grant). 

More from the July issue:

More salad recipes:

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Recipe: Hot cross carrot salad

This salad nods to its bun namesake with fruit and spice. Try it for Easter

Hot cross carrot salad

Serves 6
190g sultanas
30ml gin
Juice of 2 oranges
2 tbsp olive oil
4 bunches baby carrots, peeled and sliced into 1cm rounds
11⁄2 tsp ground cinnamon, plus extra for garnish
2 tbsp honey
Zest of 1 lemon
125g pistachios, lightly crushed
1 handful chervil, leaves picked for the yogurt dressing
6 cardamon pods
1 tsp fennel seeds
1 tsp cumin seeds
375ml Greek yogurt
1⁄4 tsp fine sea salt

1 Place sultanas in a bowl with gin and orange juice. Allow to soak for at least 30 mins. Drain excess liquid.
2 Toast cardamom pods, fennel seeds and cumin in a dry pan. After toasting the cardamon pods, break them open, remove the seeds and discard the shell. Grind the spices using a pestle and mortar until a fine powder. Place yogurt in a bowl, mix in spices and season with sea salt and black pepper to taste. Set aside.
3 Blanch carrots in a pot of salted boiling water for 2 mins. Drain and set aside to dry.
4 Heat the olive oil in a shallow frying pan and cook the blanched carrots over a medium heat for 2–3 mins. Add cinnamon and fry for a minute longer. Add honey and allow the carrots to caramelise. Season with salt to taste and set aside to cool.
5 Toss carrots, sultanas and lemon zest together. Divide carrot mix onto individual serving plates and spoon over a cross of yogurt dressing. Sprinkle cinnamon on top and scatter over crushed pistachios and chervil.

From the April issue:

More salad recipes:

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Recipe: Cabbage, beetroot and date salad

This brightly-coloured, no-cook Persian salad makes a fun and flavoursome accompaniment to a roast chicken. 

Crunchy raw cabbage is an everyday feature of salads in Iran and here red cabbage is combined with raw beetroot and dates for a sweet and healthy take on a winter ’slaw. Quicker, lighter and less fuss than your usual roast dinner veggies, a salad means less time in the kitchen and more time for autumnal walks.

SERVES 4 AS A SIDE 

2 medium, raw beetroots, peeled and grated
150g red cabbage, finely sliced
65g Iranian or Medjool dates, pitted and roughly chopped
20g bunch parsley, finely chopped

FOR THE DRESSING
3 tbsp extra-virgin olive oil
3 tbsp lemon juice
1⁄2 tsp salt
1⁄2 tsp black pepper

1 Tip the beetroot into a large bowl, followed by the red cabbage, dates and parsley.

2 Whisk the dressing ingredients together in a small bowl. Just before serving, drizzle over the salad and give it all a good toss

Recipe from The Saffron Tales: Recipes from the Persian Kitchen by Yasmin Khan (Bloomsbury) Photography: Shahrzad Darafsheh and Matt Russell

More from the October issue:

More salad recipes:

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Recipe: Fruity 'slaw

There’s got to be ’slaw at a barbecue – and this one has extra fruit in the form of mango, raisins and sultanas. 

Fruity 'slaw

Serves 8

3⁄4 medium white cabbage, finely sliced
1⁄4 medium red cabbage, finely sliced
4 carrots, grated
1 red onion, finely sliced
2 mangos, sliced
Large handful mixed raisins and sultanas

For the dressing
3 tbsp sour cream
3 tbsp mayonnaise
21⁄2 tbsp wholegrain mustard
1 lime, juiced
salt and pepper, to taste

1 Mix all the dressing ingredients together in a bowl.
2 Combine the vegetables, mangos and dried fruit in a large bowl and season with salt and freshly ground black pepper.
3 Pour over the dressing and mix well. 

Need some bits and bobs for your next barbecue or picnic? Head over to The Simple Things shop for plenty to buy, including our Here comes the sun collection, for picnic days and for beach days. A few ideas below...

Hand-stamped wooden cutlery, from £3.50

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Whitstable BBQ, from £24.00

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Acrylic tumblers, from £4.95

Two seasonal salad recipes from Abel & Cole for National Vegetarian Week

It's National Vegetarian Week and we're going bright and shiny with two beautifully colourful salad recipes from our friends at Abel & Cole. 

* Offer: The Simple Things readers get a free Abel & Cole grow-your-own-garden - a box of mini plants all ready to plant out in the garden, with an RRP £35 - and 4th veg box free when signing up to a delivery.  Use the code TST15 on sign up. *

Piñata Salad

Grab your salad spoons and whack away at this zesty (thank you, limes) spring number. Blindfold optional of course.

It’ll take
15 mins (prep)
1-2 mins (cook)

It’ll feed
2 people

Ingredients
1 beetroot
2 carrots
1 tbsp cumin seeds
1 lime
A punnet of alfalfa sprouts
A handful of coriander
1 avocado

Step by step

Peel and coarsely grate your beetroot and carrots.

Set a dry frying pan over high heat. Add your cumin seeds. Lower heat. Toast for 1-2 mins till just fragrant*. Scatter all (hang onto a pinch for later) in with your grated veg.

Grate the zest of your lime into the salad mix. Add a good squeeze of juice. Gloss with a little oil. Add a pinch of salt and pepper. Toss to mix.

Rinse and drain your alfalfa sprouts. Roughly chop your coriander. Set aside a pinch of coriander. Gently mix the sprouts and remaining coriander through the salad.

Halve, stone and peel your avocado. Divide the salad between two large bowls or plates. Pop the avocado halves in the centre. Season well. Add a good squeeze of lime juice and a gloss of oil. Finish with the reserved cumin seeds and chopped coriander.

* Going raw? Skip toasting your seeds. If you do toast them it’ll bring out the oils to make them more fragrant and tasty.

Golden Sunshine Salad

It takes 8 minutes and 20 seconds for light to travel from the sun to us. It takes just a few minutes more to whip up this organic sunshine salad.

It’ll take
15 mins (prep)
2 mins (cooking)

It’ll feed 
2-4 people

Ingredients 
1 lettuce
½ pineapple or 1 ripe mango*
A thumb of turmeric
A few pinches of sea salt
A drop of honey (optional)
100g mixed bean sprouts
1 carrot
1 lime
A handful of fresh coriander
2 tsp cumin seeds
A gloss of oil
2 garlic cloves
1 chilli

Step by Step

Slice the base from your lettuce. Tumble the leaves into a large bowl. Gently tear any larger leaves. Rinse well. Drain. Pat dry.

Slice the mango or pineapple into chunks. Cut the skin off. Place all the flesh from your fruit into a food processor or blender. Peel a 2cm chunk of peeled turmeric. Add it with a pinch of salt. Blend till smooth. Taste. Add a drop of honey or more turmeric, if needed, till it’s just right for you.

Gently mix your dressing through the leaves. Arrange the dressed leaves on a large platter or on individual plates.

Rinse your sprouts and carrot. Tumble the sprouts into the bowl you used for the lettuce (let them lap up any leftover dressing). Peel the carrot into thin ribbons using a veg peeler. Add them to the sprouts. 

Add the lime zest and juice. Season with a pinch of salt. Rinse, shake dry, roughly chop and add your coriander to the carrot/sprout mix.

Set a frying pan over medium heat. Add your cumin seeds. Toast till just fragrant. Scatter them over the sprout mix. Arrange this over your dressed leaves.

Pour enough oil into your pan to coat the bottom. Peel and thinly slice your garlic. Thinly slice your chilli. Fold them through the hot oil with a pinch of salt. Sizzle till just golden. Remove with a slotted spoon. Scatter over the salad. Drizzle a hint of the warm, spiced oil over and serve.

*Mango a little firm? Pop it in a paper bag with a banana and it should ripen in day or two. 

These recipes are from Abel & Cole's new Super Salad Box - available weekly for £19.50.

Recipe: Vibrant autumn coleslaw

No need to wait till next summer with this vibrant autumn salad from The Natural Cook by Tom Hunt.

This slaw is a great way to ‘eat the rainbow’ – colourful veg contain a range vitamins, minerals and antioxidants to ward off winter bugs.

Vibrant autumn coleslaw

Serves 4

200g carrots 1 small beetroot 3 beet tops or kale leaves, shredded 2 tbsp sunflower seeds 2 tbsp pumpkin seeds Juice of 1 lemon Small bunch of parsley, roughly chopped 150g blackberries Extra virgin olive oil 1 tbsp sesame seeds

1. Grate the carrots coarsely, dress with a splash of extra virgin olive oil, a little lemon juice and salt and pepper. Toast the sesame seeds in a dry pan until they brown slightly. mix with the carrots.

2. Grate the beetroot and add it to the dish, but don’t mix the salad until you’re ready to eat, so the colours stay separate.

3. Add all of the remaining ingredients and season the mix to taste. Toss gently with a glug of the oil to coat, then serve.

Seasonal twist

Play around with different ingredients as the seasons change. As winter arrives, substitute the blackberries for dried fruits and grate in whatever raw root vegetables you have handy, from kohlrabi to celeriac.

Storage

The salad will keep for three days in a sealed container in the fridge, but is best eaten straight away.

Recipe from The Natural Cook by Tom Hunt.

Buy or download October's The Simple Things now.

Recipe: Garlic potato salad with lemon creme fraiche

Reinvent the picnic for the modern world with made-to-be-mobile dishes, such as this potato salad recipe. A garlicky mustard kick rescue potatoes from potential blandness.

Recipe: Garlic potato salad with lemon crème fraiche

Serves 6

1.5kg mixed potatoes, cubed

3 tbsp olive oil

Zest and juice of 1 lemon

175ml crème fraîche

1 tbsp maille mustard

2 garlic cloves, minced

to serve:


4 tbsp fresh chives, finely snipped

Fresh dill

Red onion pickle (for recipe, see page 29 of July’s The Simple Things for the perfect potato salad recipe accompaniment)

1. Preheat oven to 190c/fan 170c/ 350f. Toss the potato cubes in olive oil, season with salt and freshly ground black pepper and arrange in a single layer on a large baking sheet. Bake for 45 mins–1 hour or until golden and crisped. Set aside to cool.

2. In a large bowl, place the lemon juice and zest, crème fraîche, mustard and garlic. Whisk together, then toss with potatoes, making sure to coat everything well. Top with fresh chives, dill and onion pickle.

Turn to page 26 of July’s The Simple Things for more al fresco picnic recipes.

Not got July’s The Simple Things yet? Buy or download your copy now.