FOOD: Light and easy summer salads

Have we just had our summer? Perish the thought. Lovely, dry days of hot sunshine have thus far heralded an amazing Spring to take away the memory of endless rain, rain, rain.

Salads are so in! Celeriac Remoulade is a classic French dish using shredded celeriac in a creamy, tangy dressing. You may substitute crème fraiche for mayonnaise if you like. A fennel salad along the same lines may be used in salads for its refreshing and textual qualities. Here are two variations below.

Thinly sliced Celeriac salad

Celeriac is a lovely root vegetable that can be eaten raw in salads when sliced finely or very thinly, that is the key! I did make one version with slices more like matchsticks, and it was not as effective or good!

What you require

Medium celeriac x 1 peeled and thinly sliced, mayonnaise or crème fraiche x 150g, juice of lemon x 1, white wine vinegar x 1 tbsp, Dijon mustard x 1 tbsp, wholegrain mustard x 1 tbsp, fresh parsley x 1 handful finely chopped, seasoning.

What you need to do next

Peel and slice the celeriac finely (the French call this Julienne), toss in a bowl with the lemon juice to keep it fresh and to avoid colouring the white slices. To make the dressing, mix in a separate bowl the crème fraiche, mustards, vinegar, seasoning and whisk well. Now combine with the celeriac in one bowl so that all slices are coated. Taste and season. Its important now to let these flavours settle for 20 mins, but not overnight, as magic things happen with ingredient combinations. I like to place a single lettuce leaf on the plate, spoon out a mound or shape of the remoulade mixture in the centre, and sprinkle with parsley before serving, or you may serve in ramekins. You may prepare this up to an hour or two before serving, to buy you time! Serve as a starter, or a refreshing side to cleanly cooked meats or fish.

PICTURES: Were you at the first meeting of the year at Ballinrobe Racecourse?

Shaved fennel and radish salad

Continuing the theme of thinly sliced raw vegetates, fennel is coming into season and is an excellent backdrop for a tasty salad.

What you require

Fennel bulbs x 2, radishes x 4, cheddar cheese x 30g, rapeseed oil x 2 tsp, lemon x 1 juiced, fennel seeds x 1 tsp, smoked paprika x ½ tsp, olive oil x 2 tbsp, fresh basil and mint leaves x 1 handful each, almonds x 50g, seasoning.

What you need to do next

Prepare the radishes by washing and slicing very thinly (use a mandolin here if you have one) and place in very cold or iced water to preserve them. Prepare the almonds for the salad by sprinkling with smoked paprika and some salt and roasting them on an oven tray at 180c for 7 minutes along with the fennel seeds. This will just toast them and bring out the nut and seed oils.

Remove an ugly, outer leaves and hard base of the fennel bulbs. Slice the bulb in half, lay down flat on a chopping board and slice lengthways quite thinly. Now place this in a bowl and like with the celeriac toss with your lemon juice. Drain the radishes, throw in with the fennel, season with salt if required, drizzle olive oil over, toss. Scatter the oven mix over it, and cube the cheese very small to finally complete the salad.

CABOTS are now running a full program of exciting cookery classes at their new Cookery School in Deerpark, Aughagower. Please view www.cabotscookeryschool.ie or email reddycabot@gmail.com for any details.