Welcome to salad season! Get ready to elevate your salads from mundane to extraordinary with these tips.

Has your regular salad lost its crunch? Try these tips to totally transform it and boost your health in the most delicious way.   

Leaf it all to me  

Picking the right base is half the work done when creating a salad you actually want to eat.  Try these:  

Iceberg: Perfect for creamy salads with vinaigrettes or mustards, or even for a salad cup filled with a prawn cocktail or taco filling. 
Butter lettuce: Tender and smooth, this lettuce works with light flavours and chicken. 
Cos lettuce: Subtle flavour with a perfect crispy crunch, this is traditionally used in Caesar salads to help cut the richness of the cheese and dressing. 
Rocket: Packing more of a peppery, sharp punch, rocket is perfect paired with soft cheese like feta. Top with an oil-based dressing and a scattering of cranberries, apricots or peach slices. 
Baby leaf spinach: It’s a perfect fresh canvas for creamy morsels like avocado, and the fruity sweetness from apples.   

Pack in the protein  

The tried-and-tested salad ratio is as simple as 1, 2, 3… 4! When you next make a salad, build it up as follows:  

1. The base: Add 3-4 cups fresh salad leaves of choice. 
2. The body: Go colour crazy with 2-3 cups of sliced fruit and fresh or roasted veggies. 
3. The protein: Add sustenance with a serving of grilled chicken, sliced ham, roasted chickpeas or leftover roast beef. 
4. The texture: Time for some crunch! Add a few tablespoons of croutons, a grain like couscous, nuts like almonds and walnuts or cheese like crumbled feta or shaved Parmesan.

Topping time  

It’s almost time to enjoy your new-found love for salads! Add toppings from our list below… a dressing is always a good idea as it brings everything together.  

• Cheese: Use a vegetable peeler to create thin Parmesan shavings, or try crumbled goat’s cheese, feta, Cheddar, ricotta or blue cheese. 
• Crunch: Crumble over nacho chips, uncooked 2-minute noodles or croutons. 
• Seeds: Sprinkle over toasted pumpkin, chia, or sunflower seeds. 
• Nuts: Cashews, almonds, walnuts and pistachios all work well. 
• Dried fruit: Raisins, cranberries, chopped apricots, mango or peaches add a touch of sweetness. 
• Grains: Toss your salad with cooked barley, bulgur wheat, quinoa, couscous or brown or wild rice. 
• Legumes: Try spiced tinned beans, lentils or chickpeas. 

Words: Sjaan van der Ploeg

Photography: Fresh Living Magazine / Shutterstock

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Get clued up on this month’s top tips and tricks from the MyKitchen team

Nutty for nuts!

What is granola without almonds, carrot cake without pecans or  pad thai without peanuts? Using nuts in your food not only adds extra flavour, but also an exciting layer of textural crunch. To get the most out of raw nuts, make sure to roast them. This enhances their flavour tenfold, giving them much more value in whatever you’re creating. To roast them, spread out your nuts evenly on a baking tray and place in a 180ºC oven for 10 min until they smell toasty. Let them cool, then store in a jar or container. For long-term storage, freeze nuts in a sealable bag. 

The Easiest Way To Deseed A Chilli

To take the spicy bite out of fresh chillies, you need to remove the seeds and white membrane. To easily deseed a chilli without the fear of getting the spiciness all over your hands (and in your eyes!), chop off the stalk and roll the chilli between your hands over a bowl to dislodge the seeds. Firmly tap the chilli to knock out any stubborn seeds, then chop up for your meal

Using Up Your Leftover Broccoli and Cauliflower Stems

More often than not, we cut the florets off heads of broccoli and cauliflower and toss the remaining stem. Here are some ideas to give the stems a place in your cooking:

• REMOVE the woody, outer layer to reveal the tender core, if necessary.
• BAKE into fritters, frittatas or quiches
• GRATE into coleslaws and salads
• BLITZ into home-made pesto
• SLICE into thin discs and cook with your florets
• ADD to dishes such as stir-frys, soups, stocks or potato bakes
• FRY in olive oil, garlic, chilli and salt, then toss in pasta or serve as is with your dinner

Understanding thermofans

Ovens with a thermofan setting have a fan with a heating element around it, which creates evenly distributed heat around the oven. This allows you to evenly cook, brown and crisp multiple dishes at once. Thermofan ovens create more intense heat than conventional heating so make sure to reduce the temperature by about  15ºC when using it. By cooking at a slightly lower temperature compared to conventional heating, meats dishes are kept more succulent. A thermofan oven is ideal for things that bake quickly at higher temperatures or require drying, such as choux pastry and rusks. However, it should not be used for items that need to be baked longer at lower temperatures, such as cakes.

The Ultimate Crispy Chicken Skins

Chicken skins are arguably the best part of cooking chicken for dinner, so why not make them the star of the show? Similar in taste to puffed pork belly crackling, crispy chicken skins can be crumbled over dishes, whipped into butter or enjoyed as a tasty snack. To make them, remove the skins from your chicken pieces and lay them out flat on a tray lined with baking paper. Sprinkle over a pinch of flakey salt and cover with a second piece of baking paper and another tray. Place in a 180ºC oven for 10–15 minutes until golden and crisp. Drain on paper towel to remove excess oil and enjoy!

Words by Kirsty Buchanan 
Photography: Courtesy Images

These informative food hacks will help you prevent waste in the kitchen.

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This raw veggie and cashew noodles recipe served with a delicious healthy sauce is the perfect light Monday night dinner!

SERVES 4 // COOK TIME 15 min

INGREDIENS
240g instant rice noodles
3 tbsp tamari sauce
2 tbsp olive oil
1½ tbsp honey, slightly warmed
Zest and juice of 1 lemon
Salt and pepper
4 carrots, peeled and cut into matchsticks
1 large broccoli, broken into small florets
250g portobellini mushrooms, sliced
150g raw cashews, chopped
Coriander, to garnish

METHOD
1. Place the noodles in a bowl of hot water to soften.
2. Combine the tamari, olive oil, honey, and lemon zest and juice, and season.
3. Drain the noodles and combine with the vegetables, cashews and sauce. Toss to coat.
4. Garnish with coriander, season and serve.

Nutritional content
Per 400g serving
2 695 kJ  // 16g protein
25g fat  // 76g carbohydrates
11g fibre  // 824 mg sodium

Say no to boring plain meals, and instead try this absolutely stunning, colorful and flavoursome Moroccan chickpea salad!

The post Raw veggie and cashew noodles appeared first on MyKitchen.

SERVES 8 // COOK TIME 45 min

INGREDIENTS
2 cups chopped nuts
2 lemons (zest and juice)
1½ cups sugar
500 g phyllo
125 g butter or margarine, melted

METHOD
1. Preheat oven to 150°C.
2. Scatter nuts on a baking tray. Bake for 5–10 minutes, until golden brown.
3. Place lemon juice and zest, sugar and 1 cup water in a pot. Bring to a simmer and cook, stirring, until the sugar has dissolved. Then add the nuts.
4. Grease a 25 cm baking tin.
5. Line with 2 sheets of phyllo, brushing each layer with butter. Sprinkle ⅓ of the nut mixture over the phyllo. Repeat twice more, finishing with a 4th layer of phyllo.
6. Increase the oven to 180°C and bake for 35 minutes, until golden brown. Allow to cool for 20 minutes before slicing

If you want another impressive dessert that will feel like Christmas in August, then it’s time to get your bake on with this lovely gingerbread Swiss roll with cinnamon cream! Whether you’re prepping for Sunday lunch or just feel like putting your baking skills to the test, this Christmassy dessert is a winner.

The post Baklava appeared first on MyKitchen.

Home-baked bread is still in! And this time we’re focusing on a tasty lemon focaccia with rocket and pine nuts for summer.

SERVES 6–8 // COOKING TIME 1 hour

INGREDIENTS
For the focaccia
1 cup warm water
3 tbsp sugar
2 tsp dried yeast
2 cups flour
3 tbsp olive oil + to coat
1 tsp salt
2 lemons, thinly sliced
3 tbsp brown sugar
To serve
Red onion, sliced as thinly as possible
Rocket
Pine nuts, toasted

METHOD
1. Mix the water, sugar and yeast. Leave for 5 minutes to froth.
2. Mix the flour, olive oil, salt and yeast mixture (in a stand mixer, if you have one). Knead until a dough forms, about 5 minutes.
3. Place dough in an oiled bowl, cover with cling film and leave for 30 minutes to 1 hour.
4. Preheat oven to 220°C. Oil a deep baking tray and heat it in the oven for 5 minutes.
5. Press the dough into the tray and flatten into an oval. Rub olive oil over it. Top with lemon slices and sprinkle with sugar.
6. Bake for 12 minutes.
7. Once cooled, top the focaccia with onion, rocket and pine nuts.

Recipe: Amerae Vercueil
Styling: Chiara Turilli
Photography: Andreas Eiselen // HMimages.co.za

Go gluten-free with our sprouted bread recipe.

The post Lemon focaccia with rocket and pine nuts appeared first on MyKitchen.

It’s so satisfying to find a snack that you can make in a flash – and these tea-roasted chilli nuts are it! Simply mix and pop into the oven to roast.

MAKES 2 cups // COOKING TIME 40 min

INGREDIENTS
2 cups mixed nuts
2 tbsp honey
2 tsp Ceylon tea
½ tsp salt
¼ tsp black pepper
¼ tsp chilli powder or flakes

METHOD
1. Preheat oven to 180ºC and line a baking tray.
2. Combine all ingredients in a bowl. Toss until the nuts are coated.
3. Spread out on the baking tray and bake for 30 minutes, turning the tray halfway through.
4. Allow to cool completely, then store in an airtight container.

Recipe & styling: Amerae Vercueil
Photography: Andreas Eiselen // HMimages.co.za

Keen for more tea infusions? This yummy pear and rooibos smoothie bowl from Baking Ginger is a favourite!

The post Quick and easy Ceylon tea-roasted chilli nuts appeared first on MyKitchen.