Salad » The Saucy Coq

WATERMELON SALAD WITH DATES & PISTACHIOS

Photo by The Saucy Coq

When was the last time you used your melon baller? Yeah, me neither. But my wife brought home a 1 kg bucket of Medjool dates and I was reminded of this salad I made last summer for a lobster dinner party at a friend’s place and never got around to posting.

Cold, crispy watermelon tossed with sweet Medjool dates and salty pistachios. This salad is very refreshing, sweet, salty and substantial! The total package. Goes fantastically well with BBQs! If you don’t have a melon baller, you can just cube the melon. Don’t sweat it. I don’t think it looks as nice, but it will impress nonetheless. The rose water is optional, but it adds a nice perfume and summer flavour to the whole thing.

WATERMELON SALAD

5 cups watermelon balls, chilled
6 Medjool dates, pitted and slivered
1/2 tsp sea salt
1 tbsp fresh lime juice
1/3 cup shelled pistachios, toasted and coarsely chopped
A tiny bit (1/8 tsp) rose water

This salad comes from Heidi Swanson’s vegetarian cookbook called Supernatural Everyday. It’s one of my favourite cookbooks in regular rotation and I’ve never made anything from it that I didn’t love.

Once the watermelon is balled or cubed, put it together with the dates in a large bowl. Stir the salt into the lime juice in a separate bowl and then drizzle it across the melon and toss well.

Put the melon and dates in the fridge for at least an hour before you serve, but preferably two hours. The colder the better as the melon will crisp up!

Just before serving, turn the salad out into whatever serving bowl you’ll be using and sprinkle with the pistachios and rose water.

Eat with spicy BBQ meat, burgers, seafood, chicken…anything really!

Enjoy!

FOR A GOOD TIME CALL APPLE POMEGRANATE SALAD

This salad of pomegranate seeds, crisp apple, roasted hazelnuts and peppery watercress is a very refreshing, light and flavor-packed dish. Goes great with any protein and tastes even better the next day.

My girlfriend and I were in London a couple of weeks ago and, as per usual, hunting for good food was a big part of the bill. We were very successful. And by successful, I mean that no vegetables were consumed. If I recall, there may have been some baby spinach in some ravioli I had and maybe some plantain with my roast suckling pig, but that’s it.

In typical post-vacation-depression style, we made an attempt to replenish our supply of essential vitamins and minerals. I set out for fresh, healthy, low fat, high nutrient foods. I’ve made this salad a few times and it seems to fit any season. Light and refreshing enough for the summer and hearty enough for the winter.

Pomegranate’s are in season (in the Northern hemisphere) from September to February. They really are a fascinating fruit. Historical and religious significance; sweet and tart at the same time; and may be helpful in reducing heart disease factors, systolic blood pressure and viral infections. Oh, they also fight dental plaque and are very high in fiber. Take that other fruit.

Apple Pomegranate Salad

2/3 cup hazelnuts, blanched*
1 tablespoon plus 1 teaspoon hazelnut oil (I used peanut this time and it still tasted great)
Coarse salt and freshly ground pepper
3 tablespoons fresh pomegranate juice, plus seeds from one pomegranate
1 tablespoon sherry (or sherry vinegar)
2 teaspoons rice vinegar
3 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
1 medium apple, diced
1/2 lemon, for juicing
1 bunch watercress

Preheat your oven to 375 degrees. Spread hazelnuts on a baking sheet; toast, stirring once, until fragrant and lightly browned, 8 to 10 minutes. Let cool; coarsely chop nuts, and toss with 1 teaspoon hazelnut oil and salt. *If you don’t have blanched hazelnuts, you can put them in boiling water for two minutes, plunge them in ice water, then pinch the skins off. In other words, buy blanched hazelnuts.

In a small bowl, combine, pomegranate juice, sherry, rice vinegar, and salt. If you have them on hand, it would be very sophisticated and wise of you to add in some diced shallots here and let sit for a few minutes; about one shallot would do. Since I have no class and had no shallots I didn’t use any. Whisk in olive oil and remaining 1 tablespoon hazelnut oil.

In a large bowl, toss apple and pomegranate seeds with dressing; season with salt, pepper, and a squeeze of lemon. Gently toss with watercress. Arrange salad on a serving platter, and garnish with hazelnuts. Serve immediately.

I served this over some nice pieces of seared white fish and browned brussels sprouts. Give it a try with some red meat and let me know how it works out.

Enjoy!

CRISPY BAKED SHRIMP

Two crispy panko breaded shrimp on a bed of arugula, strawberry, almond salad

I. Love. Seafood. That’s really all I need to write for this post. That’s how much I love it. There’s nothing more to say. In fact, if you loved it as much as I do, you would’ve stopped reading by now…just threw your hands up and went out somewhere.

This crispy, lemony shrimp is delicious and pretty healthy. I’m not exactly a sucker for healthy food, but when I do make things that are relatively good for you, it’s certainly a bonus worth pointing out. The only part of this recipe that takes much effort is the breading of the shrimp, and it’s not difficult. The recipe below serves two people as a main course.

Crispy Baked Shrimp:

olive oil

a few handfuls of breadcrumbs

handful of parsley, finely chopped

zest and juice of a lemon, plus extra for serving

handful of freshly grated Parmesan

12 medium (or 8 large king) shrimp, cleaned and peeled

flour for coating

2 eggs, whisked

sea salt and pepper

Simple Salad:

3 handfuls of arugula

8 strawberries, sliced

slivered almonds, toasted

balsamic vinegar

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Heat your oven to 425 F. Now, make the breading. I love using Panko breadcrumbs whenever possible. They’re made without the crust of the bread, so they’re crispier and fluffier. Mix the breadcrumbs, parsley, lemon zest and a shot of olive oil in a bowl. Spread this out on a baking pan to dry.

Now, set up your breading station: bowl of flour, bowl of beaten eggs, breadcrumbs. Toss the shrimp in the flour and shake off the excess; dip them in the egg and coat them with the breadcrumbs. Make sure they are completely coated. Use your hands and get dirty. Remove the shrimp so you can clean off the baking sheet and rub it with olive oil. Finally, bake your shrimp in that sweet, hot oven for about 10 minutes. Flip them after 5 if you want them evenly browned. Don’t worry if you forget.

While the shrimp is baking, toss together the arugula, strawberries and almonds with a bit of lemon juice, olive oil and a splash of balsamic.

Once the shrimp is done, sprinkle it with a bit of salt and serve it on top of that salad you just tossed. Pun intended.

Serve it with a chunk of lemon.