Warm winter salad of radicchio, wild rocket and feta

Hello everyone, this week I am wondering if you can do something for me. My beautiful cat Bellatrix has gone missing and I am trying to do everything I can think of to find her. She disappeared on Wednesday 11 August from our home in Cromer. I have searched the surrounding streets, calling her name, and done a letter box drop with a flyer with her photo asking for assistance. My brother in law has searched under the house and I have scoured surrounding bushes, surveyed the roof and called her name until I am blue in the face. If you happen to know anyone at all who lives in Cromer, I implore you to direct them to this photo of Bellatrix and ask them to look out for her. Her name, my mobile number and her Vet's details are on a tag on her collar and she is microchipped so any Vet who scans her could contact me. All help very much appreciated!!

This week's recipe comes from the July edition of delicious magazine. It is a Jamie Oliver recipe.

Jane

Warm winter salad of radicchio, wild rocket and feta

Serves six

What you need:

• 3 radicchio lettuces, outer leaves removed


• 3 slices good quality bread


• 3 garlic cloves, thinly sliced


• A large handful of pine nuts


• A large handful of raisins


• Olive oil


• 200ml balsamic vinegar (I'd recommend using half this quantity, and taste and adjust if you think it needs more)


• 75g wild rocket


• 200g feta cheese

What you do:

1. Cut radicchio into quarters.


2. Grill in a dry, very hot pan on top of the stove for 3-4 minutes until nicely charred on all sides. Remove to a large bowl.


3. Chargrill the slices of bread.


4. To make the dressing, fry the garlic, pine nuts and raisins in a little oil over a medium heat.


5. When the garlic starts to colour, take the pan off the heat and pour in the balsamic. Most of the liquid will evaporate when it hits the pan, so you end up with a sticky dressing. Leave to cool a little.


6. Roughly tear up the radicchio and bread, then place back in the bowl and toss with the dressing.


7. Divide the radicchio and bread among serving plates.


8. Top with rocket, any pine nuts and raisins left in the bowl and crumble over the feta before serving.

Sicilian Potato Salad

Hello everyone, a chair that I had sent away to have re-upholstered has just been delivered back to me. The chair belonged to my great grandmother and was passed from her to my grandmother's sister, Aunty Sheelah. When Aunty Sheelah died some years ago the chair came to me. I've wanted to have it re-done for years, as it was in a rather old lady-ish pink, so I'm very excited to have it all done! I have gone for more of a neutral look, using a linen fabric in a colour that might be described as a slighter darker shade of oatmeal. The possibilities for cushions to dress it up are endless! I will look forward to sitting in my chair at some stage during the weekend and continuing to devour an anthology of short stories by one of my favourite authors in the world (who has sadly departed this world), Carol Shields.

Now as regular readers know, I love my potatoes, and am firmly of the view that you never can have too many potato salad recipes. This week's one is from my favourite food writer, Matthew Evans. I found the recipe years ago in his column in Good Weekend magazine. He says that the dish originates in Palermo. It's certainly delicious and best served warm or at room temperature.

Have a happy week. Love from Jane xx

Sicilian potato salad

Serves 4-6

What you need:

• 1-2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
• 1 kg potatoes, preferably waxy, washed and/or peeled and cut into cubes
• 1 large Spanish onion, peeled and chopped
• 60g capers, preferably salted, soaked for 15 minutes and rinsed
• 150g green olives, rinsed well
• 3 tablespoons white wine vinegar
• 3 tablespoons caster sugar
• 1-2 teaspoons salt

What you do:

1. Heat enough oil in a frypan to fry the potatoes until nearly cooked through.
2. Add the onion and fry until it becomes translucent and the potatoes are fully cooked.
3. Add the capers and the olives.
4. Whisk the vinegar with the sugar and some salt and pour over the potatoes.
5. Simmer for a few seconds, then turn off the heat and allow the vinegar to soak into the potatoes.
6. Season to taste and serve in a pretty serving bowl.

Red cabbage salad

Hello everyone, this week's recipe is something that I have copied from one of my favourite Italian restaurants. It's very simple and you can work out the quantities to suit your tastes.

Combine finely shredded red cabbage with raisins (which you may wish to plump up ahead of time in some verjuice), walnuts and chunks of gorgonzola dolce. Dress with your best extra virgin olive oil and balsamic. Toss together the ingredients, transfer to a deep bowl and serve with pizza, pasta, lamb, fish...whatever you are having for dinner.

Have a happy week. Love from Jane xx

Fig, watercress and blue cheese salad with candied walnuts

Hello everyone, I had a kitchen disaster last weekend when my fridge broke down on that very hot Saturday. The fridge repair man came on Monday afternoon and diagnosed....yes, dead. It was the first fridge I had ever bought and nearly sixteen years old so it has given me good service, but really, it would be helpful if they flashed up warning messages like "One week to go!" Of course I had a freezer full of food and quite a few things in the fridge and had to throw it all out. And of course, with the public holiday intervening, my new fridge didn't arrive until Wednesday morning, so it was four very hot days with no way of chilling food! It was a challenge and I'm glad to have the new one in place. Now I'm busy filling it once more!

This week's recipe is one that I made during the week and it was lovely and refreshing. It comes from the December 2009/January 2010 issue of delicious magazine. It's one of those great salads that makes a meal, although of course you could serve it as a salad with other things if you were feeding a few. The walnuts are very easy and taste delicious, probably even better made with butter as in the recipe - I had to use olive oil as I had tossed out my almost melted butter!

Have a happy week. Love from Jane xx

Fig, watercress and blue cheese salad with candied walnuts

Serves four

What you need:

• 1/4 cup extra virgin olive oil, plus 1 teaspoon for the figs
• 1 tablespoon red wine vinegar
• 1 teaspoon Dijon mustard
• A squeeze of lemon juice
• 3 ripe, fresh figs, quartered
• 2 teaspoons caster sugar
• 2 teaspoons balsamic vinegar
• 1 bunch watercress
• A handful of seedless red or green grapes, halved
• 200g blue cheese, sliced

Candied walnuts

• 20g unsalted butter
• 1 cup walnut halves
• 1/4 cup caster sugar
• 1/2 - 1 teaspoon caynenne pepper (optional; you could sprinkle over normal ground black pepper if you prefer)

What you do:

1. For the candied walnuts, line a baking tray with baking paper.
2. Melt the butter in a saucepan.
3. Add the walnuts, sugar and pepper, then stir for 1-2 minutes until the sugar melts and coats the nuts.
4. Remove from the heat and use a spoon to spread the nuts out on the baking tray. Leave for a few minutes to set.
5. Combine the olive oil, red wine vinegar, mustard and lemon juice in a small bowl.
6. Season the dressing with sea salt and pepper, whisking to combine, then set aside.
7. Place the figs, cut side up, on a small baking tray.
8. Sprinkle with the sugar, balsamic vinegar and additional olive oil.
9. Place the figs under a grill for five minutes or until golden and bubbling. Remove from the grill and set aside.
10. Arrange the watercress and grapes on a serving platter and top with the grilled figs. Lay slices of cheese over the top, drizzle with the dressing and serve sprinkled with the walnuts.

Prawn skewers with rice salad

Hello everyone, gosh it's a hot summer's day in Sydney today! Mum used to say on days like this she wished she could put a zipper into the cat's coat, and I'm thinking that today. Bellatrix doesn't look too uncomfortable, but it would be lovely to unzip that fur coat and help her out of it.

My freezer is acting in a very suspicious way too...I reached in for some ice cubes this morning and there seemed to be some significant thawing going on. I do hope it's just because of the very hot temperature outside but I am starting to wonder if I'm going to be taking a trip to the new fridge shop this week....

I'll ignore it for the minute. This week's recipe is another of Bill Granger's (from Bill's Open Kitchen) and is one of those dishes that just tastes like summer. When I made it I did the full quantity of the rice salad so that I had some for lunches during the week. I know it looks like a long list of ingredients, but many of the ingredients for the salad are the same as for the prawns and once you have done all the chopping of the ingredients you are nearly there.

Have a wonderful week! Love from Jane xx

Prawn skewers with rice salad

Serves four

What you need:

• 3 thick slices of sourdough bread
• 1/3 cup extra virgin olive oil
• 24 medium green prawns, peeled and deveined
• 2 garlic cloves, crushed
• 1/4 cup finely chopped flat leaf parsley
• Finely grated zest of 1 lemon
• 1 teaspoon sea salt
• Freshly ground black pepper
• Lemon wedges to serve

Rice salad

• 1/4 cup olive oil
• 2 tablespoons lemon juice
• Sea salt and freshly ground black pepper
• 4 cups COOKED white rice (boil up two cups of uncooked rice)
• 1 tablespoon lemon zest
• 1/2 red onion, finely chopped
• 1/3 cup roughly chopped flat leaf parsley
• 2 celery sticks, finely chopped
• 1/3 cup green olives, pitted and sliced

What you do:

1. Soak eight wooden skewers in water for 30 minutes to stop them from burning during cooking.
2. Preheat the oven to 200C.
3. Place the bread on a baking tray and toast for 20 minutes or until lightly golden.
4. Remove from the oven and leave to cool, then turn into breadcrumbs in a food processor.
5. Toss the prawns in the olive oil.
6. Add the remaining ingredients, including the breadcrumbs, and mix well so that each prawn is evenly coated in breadcrumbs.
7. Cover with gladwrap and place in the fridge for 30 minutes.
8. To make the rice salad, combine the oil, lemon juice, salt and pepper in a large bowl.
9. Add all of the remaining salad ingredients and toss until well combined.
10. Preheat a grill or a BBQ to high.
11. Thread 3 prawns onto each skewer, curling and skewering the tails to maintain a round shape.
12. Cook for 2 minutes on each side, or until golden, and serve with the lemon wedges and rice salad.

Jamie's Waldorf Salad

Hello everyone and happy new year. I think everyone who lives in my street went to see the fireworks this year, as it was very quiet around here. I was completely engrossed in Truman Capote's In Cold Blood so the peace and quiet made me very happy.

Now I have to say that I am not a huge fan of Jamie Oliver himself, but over the years I have tried many of his recipes in delicious magazine and always thought they were very good. When I saw his latest book, Jamie's America, I had to get it. It reminds me very much of a book in a Time Life series on food in different countries that Mum had when we were children. I was entranced with the book on America as I found the cultural context, and the range of cooking styles and influences around that big country, fascinating. So I had exactly the same feeling when I came across Jamie's book.

Funnily enough, at the community dinners in which I participate, my team mate Margaret made a great waldorf salad one night. She kindly sent me an email with the details - she had found this recipe in a magazine at her hairdresser and copied it. (Well, the list of ingredients - someone had ripped out the instructions). So I had already tried the salad and had Margaret's list of ingredients in hand ready to make it myself when I discovered that the recipe came from Jamie's America. It's great, a really good summertime meal. (The comments in brackets in the ingredients list are mine).

Have a wonderful new year! Love from Jane xxx

Jamie's Waldorf Salad

Serves four

What you need:

• 4 large handfuls of interesting green salad leaves, washed and spun dry (I have only recently started using a lettuce spinner, gosh they are good!)
• 2 large handfuls of seedless green or red grapes (or you could have half and half), sliced in half
• 3 medium sticks of celery, trimmed
• 2 large handfuls of walnuts (approximately 100g), roughly chopped
• A handful of fresh flat leaf parsley
• 1 red apple
• 150g mild blue cheese, such as dolcelatte (there's a nice mild King Island blue that comes in a roll which you can buy at Woollies which would work well)

Dressing

• 1 heaped teaspoon Dijon mustard
• 2 tablespoons white or red wine vinegar
• Good quality extra virgin olive oil
• 1 heaped tablespoon natural yoghurt
• Sea salt and freshly ground black pepper

What you do

1. In a large bowl toss together the leaves and the grapes.
2. Finely slice the celery sticks and add to the salad.
3. In a dry pan over a medium heat toast the walnuts. Keep an eye on them - they will only take a couple of minutes.
4. Discard the tougher ends of the parsley stalks and finely chop the rest of the stalks, then put to the side for a minute.
5. Chop the parsley leaves finely and add to the salad.
6. To make the dressing, combine the mustard and vinegar and add the reserved chopped parsley stalks.
7. Pour in three times as much olive oil as the dressing you have made so far (or less olive oil, depending on your preference) and mix together.
8. Add the yoghurt and a good pinch of salt and pepper to the dressing and mix again.
9. Drizzle a little of the dressing over the salad so far.
10. Finely slice the apple into matchsticks and scatter over the salad.
11. Add the toasted walnuts and dressing and toss everything together.
12. Transfer the salad to a large serving platter, piling the grapes and walnuts over the leaves. Use a knife to break off little pieces of the cheese, scattering over the salad and serve.

Grilled piri piri drumettes with coleslaw

Hello everyone and happy Christmas! I hope that you had a lovely day and enjoyed some good food. My family had an enormous feast, the highlights being Jamie's whole stuffed snapper that he did on the barbie and Greg's Balmain bugs, which we also barbecued, served with a luscious lime butter. Mmmmmmmmmmm, it was all so good. I contributed a potato salad, and some lemon curd ice cream and a chocolate royal torte for dessert. It is a relief to be on the other side of all that food now. I am contemplating a very simple rice salad for dinner tonight! (Although wondering what am I going to do with the piles of cheese and cream in my fridge - I can think of things I could do with them, but none are very sensible ideas really so hot on the heels of all the Christmas excess).

This week's recipe is yet another for which I had lower expectations but was really happily surprised. I loved the flavour of the sauce and the mint gives the coleslaw a real freshness. It comes from my Women's Weekly Main Course Salads book which has provided a number of winners over the years. This one is great for casual entertaining in summer and easy for kids to eat. If you can't find drumettes you could use wings or drumsticks or a mix of both.

Have a great holiday time week and a happy new year. Love from Jane xxx

Grilled piri piri drumettes with coleslaw

Serves four

What you need:

• 16 chicken drumettes


• 1/2 cup piri piri sauce (you can buy at the supermarket)


• 5 cups finely shredded red cabbage


• 5 cups finely shredded white cabbage


• 1 cup coarsely chopped fresh mint

Piri piri dressing

• 1 tablespoon piri piri sauce


• 1/2 cup peanut oil


• 1/4 cup lemon juice

What you do:

1. Combine the chicken and the sauce in a large bowl; cover and refrigerate for 3 hours or overnight.


2. Combine the ingredients for the piri piri dressing and mix well.


3. Cook the chicken in the sauce on the barbecue (or in the oven) until browned and cooked through.


4. To make the salad, place the cabbages and the mint in a large bowl with the dressing. Toss well to combine and serve with the chicken.

Tomatoes braised in olive oil

Hello everyone, I was lucky to have a gorgeous few days away this week in Port Douglas. I did very little, other than lie by the pool, voraciously consuming novels, and having the occasional swim and a delightful massage. Sad to say that the food wasn't a highlight, although I picked a winner on my last night there, having dinner at a fabulous Japanese restaurant, Zai. I had spanking fresh sashimi to start and followed that up with one of my guilty pleasures, pork belly, which was luscious. It really made me conscious of how lucky I am to live in Sydney with an abundance of good cafes and restaurants that have imaginative menus, loads of good fresh produce and reasonable prices.

This week's recipe is one of those relatively simple dishes to which you can add good bread, prosciutto or ham or jamon, some nice cheese and all of a sudden you have a fabulous meal! It is excellent for summer and comes from my SOS Summer cookbook.

Have a great week. Love from Jane xxx

Tomatoes braised in olive oil

Serves six

What you need:

• 1/2 to 3/4 cup extra virgin olive oil
• 6 peeled cloves of garlic
• A handful of basil leaves
• A few sprigs of thyme
• 6 peeled medium, ripe but firm vine ripened tomatoes (retain the stem if you are able) (To peel, cut a cross in the base of each tomato, place in a heat proof dish and cover with boiling water for a minute, then plunge into cold water - the skins should slip off)
• Sea salt and freshly ground pepper
• A pinch of caster sugar

What you do:

1. Cook the oil, garlic, basil and thyme in a large, heavy pan over a low heat, until the garlic begins to soften.
2. Add the tomatoes, stem side down, and sprinkle with salt, pepper and sugar.
3. Cover and cook very gently for ten minutes, then turn carefully, sprinkle again with salt, pepper and sugar, and cook, covered for a further twenty minutes, basting occasionally with the oil.
4. When the tomatoes are tender when pierced with a skewer, remove from the heat.
5. Allow to cool and serve at room temperature with fresh basil leaves, the garlic cloves and a little of the olive oil in which the tomatoes were cooked spooned over, as well as some bread, cheese and other accompaniments.

Roast salmon salad with marie rose dressing

Hello everyone, for about eighteen months I have been trying to book a table at the Tea Room Gunners Barracks https://www.thetearoom.com.au/ for high tea. Every time I called to make a booking I was put off - they were fully booked for the next six Saturdays; they had stoppped taking bookings; there was a new reason every time for why I couldn't book a table. Every time I hung up the phone I would be so cross and think "Well I'm just not going to go there, clearly they don't want my business." But in fact it just made me more and more keen to go there. The last time I called I was told that they no longer do high tea on weekends as they have so many weddings, so I would have to come during the week. Well, being on holidays this week it was my top priority. On a gorgeous sunny day during the week my very appropriately dressed friend Aviva (teacup adorned skirt and all) descended on the place and enjoyed a splendid high tea. Perhaps not quite the best I have had in terms of the food, although it was very good and plentiful, but the fit out of the place and the breathtaking views made the whole experience worth waiting for all that time. And best of all? The cheeky kookaburras who suddenly swoop in to snaffle a sandwich from the tiered stands. We were warned it could happen so ate quickly, but saw it happen to another table.

This week's recipe is a fantastic summery salad, a Jamie Oliver recipe which comes from the November edition of delicious magazine. I loved it when I made it and last night I had word that my brother in law and nieces were road testing it on my recommendation. The verdict? Possibly the best salmon they have ever had. See what you think.

Have a happy week. Love from Jane xx

Roast salmon salad with marie rose dressing

Serves four

What you need:
· 600g salmon fillets
· Light olive oil
· 4 tablespoons good quality mayonnaise
· 2 tablespoons tomato sauce
· 2 lemons
· Tabasco sauce
· 2 baby cos lettuces, broken into pieces
· 2 handfuls watercress
· 300g cooked prawns, peeled (keep on the tails)
· Extra virgin olive oil

What you do:
1. Preheat the oven to 180C.
2. Place salmon on a baking tray, sprinkle with salt and pepper and drizzle with a little olive oil.
3. Place in the hot oven for about ten minutes.
4. Meanwhile, mix the mayonnaise and tomato sauce in a small bowl.
5. Add the zest and juice of one lemon.
6. Season well with salt and pepper and a dash of Tabasco sauce. The sauce should be a loose dressing you can drizzle over the salad.
7. Check the salmon and when it’s done to your liking, remove from the oven and allow to cool slightly.
8. Mix the lettuce and watercress in a large bowl or on a platter and drizzle with a little extra virgin olive oil.
9. Break the salmon into nice large chunks and place them in and around the salad.
10. Scatter with prawns.
11. Spoon the dressing over the top.
12. Serve with the remaining lemon cut into wedges.

Warm salad of roasted pumpkin, apples and rocket

Hello everyone, I have enthused in previous winter time blogs about winter salads and was very happy to find another good one this week. It's a recipe that I cut out of the Good Living section of the newspaper and have had stuck on my fridge for weeks so it was good to finally try it. I chopped up the pumpkin into tiny pieces so that it cooked all nice and crispy, and I used a really lovely pomegranate balsamic vinegar that worked well with this mix of fruit and vegetables.

Have a happy week. Love from Jane xx

Warm salad of roasted pumpkin, apples and rocket

Serves four

What you need:

• 500g butternut pumpkin, peeled, seeded and chopped into chunks the size you like
• 2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil, plus extra for serving
• 3 tablespooons balsamic vinegar, plus extra for serving
• 2 medium pink lady apples, cored and cut into wedges
• 80g walnut halves
• 2 cups wild rocket leaves
• 2 cups watercress sprigs
• 100g marinated (or plain) fetta

What you do:

1. Preheat oven to 210C.
2. Combine pumpkin, olive oil and vinegar in a baking dish you have lined with baking paper (best to do this - I didn't and am still scrubbing out my baking dish) and roast for 15 minutes.
3. Add apples and roast for another 15 minutes.
4. Make sure the pumpkin is pretty well done and then add the walnuts and roast for a final 5 minutes.
5. Remove from the oven and set aside for 5 minutes.
6. Combine rocket and watercress in a large bowl.
7. Add roasted pumpkin mix.
8. Season to taste and toss gently.
9. Divide salad among four bowls.
10. Crumble fetta over salad and drizzle additional olive oil and balsamic and serve.

Lentil and pumpkin salad

Hello everyone, I was at a friend's fortieth on Friday night and they hired my friend Anna who is a caterer to do the food. It was gorgeous! She did such a great job, it was all home cooked food presented beautifully. We started with a heap of finger food while everyone was standing around having a drink. There were all sorts of choices, and I am still tossing up as favourite the huge, lovely and sweet peeled prawns, or the Moroccan lamb mince triangles. Then there was a buffet for the main course that included all sorts of salads, meat and vegetable dishes. Then to top it off, Anna baked a really moist, fudgy chocolate cake (decorated with forty candles) and served it with creamy raspberry icecream. It was all so good and I was so happy that everyone loved the food. Definitely my caterer of choice!

Last night I cooked this lovely salad to go with my dinner and thankfully had the foresight (and so much pumpkin) to make enough for Monday's lunch as well. It comes from my Marie Claire Comfort cook book from which I have made quite a few good things. I hope you like it too, it's a great one for winter.

Have a happy week. Love from Jane xx

Lentil and pumpkin salad

Serves four or six as a side dish

What you need:

• 1 kg jap or kent pumpkin, peeled and chopped into quite small pieces so they roast up all nice and crispy
• 1 large red onion, halved and thinly sliced into half moons
• 2 tablespoons light olive oil
• 120g puy lentils or tiny blue lentils (I don't think you can easily find puy lentils any more, but I found some Australian blue lentils at my local health food store)
• 1/2 teaspoon sea salt
• 1 teaspooon whole grain mustard
• 1 tablespoon balsamic vinegar
• 2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
• 1 handful flat leaf parsley, chopped roughly
• 50g wild rocket leaves
• 100g goats cheese

What you do

1. Preheat the oven to 180C.
2. Place the pumpkin pieces into a baking tray, scatter with the sliced onion and toss with the light olive oil, then season with salt and pepper.
3. Bake for about 25 minutes or until the pumpkin is looking crispy.
4. Meanwhile, place the lentils in a saucepan with the half teaspoon of salt and 2 cups of water.
5. Bring the lentils to the boil, then simmer for 30 minutes or until tender. Keep an eye on them and top up the water if needed.
6. When cooked, drain the lentils of any excess water, then stir in the mustard, vinegar, extra virgin olive oil and parsley.
7. When you are ready to serve, arrange the rocket on a serving plate, top with the pumpkin and onion, then spoon over the lentils.
8. Crumble the goats cheese over the top and serve.

Orange, hazelnut and goat's cheese salad

Hello everyone, this week I have had the luxury of a bit more time on my hands and I have been looking at other blogs written by food lovers. One of the most impressive is Grab Your Fork http://grabyourfork.blogspot.com/ which details the author's eating adventures, and my, she does a lot! I also came across Not Quite Nigella http://www.notquitenigella.com/ when trying to find the name of a new chocolate shop I had visited recently. I was a bit overwhelmed for a while looking at some of the other blogs as they are so beautifully done with photos and links to other sites, but in the end I figured that I only ever intended to stick up a few helpful recipes and don't think I'm going to let this mission take over my life!

As my contribution to the restaurant reviewing game however, I must report that I enjoyed an excellent meal with the most charming service at Kika Tapas Bar http://www.kika.com.au/ (the website is still coming but it's a handy reminder) in Darlinghurst during the week. Yes, my Spanish passion continues unabated and if anything it was further fired here with the most luscious jamon and crispy churros. Definitely a must-return.

This week's recipe offers something a little lighter - back to a nice winter salad now that the days are a little shorter and cooler. I made this for dinner one night and loved it. It's from my Growers Market book, a never ending source of inspiration for seasonal goodies.

Have a wonderful week. Love from Jane xx

Orange, hazelnut and goat's cheese salad

Serves four

What you need:

• 1/4 cup hazelnuts, toasted and rubbed in a clean teatowel to remove the skins
• 1 tablespoon orange juice
• 1 tablespoon lemon juice
• 1/2 cup olive oil
• 250g watercress, rinsed and dried
• 1 cup baby English spinach leaves, rinsed and dried
• Segments from two oranges (peeled)
• 300g firm goats cheese, sliced into 4 equal portions

What you do:

1. Make the dressing by combining the nuts, juices, and a pinch of salt in a food processor.
2. With the motor running, gradually add the olive oil a few drops at a time. When about half the oil has been added, pour in the remainder in a steady stream.
3. Pick the leaves from the watercress and combine in a bowl with the spinach, orange segments and two tablespoons of the dressing.
4. Toss to combine and season with sea salt and freshly ground pepper.
5. Arrange the salad on four serving plates.
6. Heat a small non stick frying pan over a medium-high heat and brush the pan lightly with olive oil.
7. When the oil is hot, carefully press each slice of goats cheese firmly into the pan and cook for a couple of minutes, or until a crust has formed on the cheese.
8. Carefully remove the cheese from the pan and arrange on top of the salads, crust side up.
9. Drizzle over the remaining dressing and serve.

Chilli salmon noodle salad with lime and herbs

Hello everyone, I had a fantastic day yesterday doing a Spanish Gourmet Safari http://www.gourmetsafaris.com.au/page/sydney_safaris.html. We went all over Sydney and tasted all sorts of beautiful Spanish foods and drinks including jamon, olives, cheese, chorizo, sherry (which I had never tasted before but once I tried the Pedro Ximinez...I was hooked). I knew the day was off to a good start when we began in a tiny cafe in Kings Cross with beautiful thick Spanish hot chocolate and churros. From there we went to Yagoona, then back to McMahons Point, then Glebe and finally into the Spanish quarter in Liverpool street in the city. Who knew there were so many sources of fabulous Spanish things? We finished mid afternoon with some tapas and sangria. I have to say the potatoes in alioli were the best I have ever eaten. All in all an outstanding day, so if you like your Spanish I highly recommend you do this tour, it is excellent.

Now for a completely different taste I'm giving you a recipe for a Thai style salad which truly stands the test of something delicious and easy at the end of a long, hard day. I left work on Friday night at 7.00 and was determined that I was going to make this salad. Only problem was that I had left my shopping list at home and didn't know what I needed for it, and by that time of night my shopping options were limited. I took a punt that delicious magazine, from which the recipe comes (in fact it's this month's cover recipe so you can see it), is sold in Woolies and happily found it there. I bought a copy and then whipped around the shop and managed to obtain all the ingredients that I didn't already have at home. (Including buying the salmon at Woolies which I have never done before but I was surprised at how good and fresh it was, just like buying from a real fishmonger!)

So you can imagine, by the time I got home it was around 8.00. Well, I had dinner made within 15 minutes and it was beautiful. So hopefully a good one for you too when you're in the same situation - just remember to take your shopping list with you!

Have a happy week. Love from Jane xx

Chilli salmon noodle salad with lime and herbs

Serves four

What you need:

• 500g salmon fillet
• 1-2 tablespoons sweet chilli sauce
• 1 tablespoon sunflower oil, or a light olive oil
• 200g rice vermicelli noodles
• 1/2 punnet cherry tomatoes, quartered
• 1 avocado, roughly chopped
• 1 small red chilli, seeded and thinly sliced
• 1/3 cup each mint, coriander and Thai or regular basil leaves
• 2 tablespoons salted peanuts, roughly chopped

Dressing (I found the given quantities perfect but you can adjust to suit your taste)

• 2 tablespoons lime juice, plus lime wedges to serve
• 2 tablespoons each fish sauce and sweet chilli sauce
• 1 tablespoon light olive oil
• 2 teaspoons caster sugar

What you do:

1. Coat the salmon fillet in the sweet chilli sauce.
2. Heat the oil in a frypan over a medium-high heat.
3. Sear the salmon for 2-3 minutes each side, leaving it a little pink in the middle.
4. Place the salmon on a plate, cover loosely with foil and leave to rest while you make the salad.
5. Prepare the noodles by pouring boiling water over them, then drain and set aside.
6. Whisk together all of the dressing ingredients in a large bowl until the sugar dissolves.
7. Add the cherry tomatoes, avocado and sliced red chilli to the dressing and toss gently to combine.
8. Add the noodles and herbs to the salad and gently toss again.
9. Divide the noodle salad among four plates.
10. Break the salmon into chunks with your fingers and gently tuck the pieces into the salad.
11. Scatter with the peanuts and serve the salad with the lime wedges.

Chicken sausage and couscous salad

Hello everyone, I had fun today. I had arranged to take out my nieces for a few hours during the day. Being such a cold and wet day my thoughts turned to pizza, so I thought I'd take them to Rosso Pomodoro at Balmain. No go - they don't like pizza anymore. They did last time I looked, but there was no interest in going out for pizza. As they do currently love sushi, I took them to a sushi train instead. Emma, the nearly ten year old managed two pieces of sushi and decided she was full. But Rachael, the seven year old, completely embraced the whole sushi train concept. She loved it! She matched me plate for plate, studied the menu to confirm what she thought she was grabbing from the conveyor belt, and commented a couple of times "I could stay here all afternoon watching all these dishes go around!" So there is now an expectation that she and I are going to try out every sushi train we can find in Sydney. Only the good ones of course!

This week's recipe is a great cold dish which early subscribers to my email recipe service might remember seeing. It is great for entertaining as it makes a huge quantity, and with the chicken sausages kids love it. It certainly has all my favourite flavours in it with the lemon and mint and green olives. The recipe comes from my Womens Weekly Salads cookbook, which has been the source of many good, substantial salads for me. I have a note to myself with the recipe that the Womens Weekly test kitchen must have invited in people to try out this salad who had ENORMOUS appetites as according to them it serves four, and by my reckoning it easily serves eight very generously. See what you think.

Have a happy week. Love from Jane xxx

Chicken sausage and couscous salad

Serves between four and eight, or maybe more, you be the judge

What you need:
· 8 thick chicken sausages
· 1 ½ cups chicken stock
· 1 ½ cups couscous
· 1/3 cup finely chopped preserved lemon rind
· 1 medium red capsicum, sliced thinly (or chopped, your preference)
· 300g can chickpeas, rinsed and drained
· 1 cup seeded large green olives, halved lengthways
· 1 cup loosely packed fresh mint leaves, chopped
· 1/3 cup lemon juice
· 1/3 cup olive oil

What you do:
1. Cook the sausages however you like – I usually stick them in the oven for half an hour and they come up beautifully. When cooked, slice them thinly.
2. Meanwhile, bring stock to a boil in a medium saucepan. Remove from heat, stir in the couscous and cover. Stand for about five minutes or until the stock is absorbed, then fluff up the couscous with a fork.
3. Place the sausages and couscous in a large bowl with the remaining ingredients and toss gently to combine.

Roasted vegetable, rocket and feta salad

Hello everyone, I know that cooking is probably the last thing on many people's minds, but when it's so hot that you don't want to do anything at least it's comforting to have a nice home cooked meal, especially if it's one you have prepared earlier. Then all the work is done and you can sit and relax!

Mind you, I had dinner during the week at one of my all time favourite places, the Three Weeds at Rozelle. They have a great bar menu and I have never been disappointed. When I was there this week I chose the lamb with yoghurt sauce and couscous. Very much the sort of thing that I would cook for myself anyway, but I really felt like some lamb so went with it. It was beautiful! It actually tasted homecooked. So sometimes it does pay to go out and let someone cook for you.

I was planning to try out a fabulous Nigella chocolate sauce recipe on some dinner guests last night but they thwarted my plans by turning up with a cake! So that recipe is yet to be tested. It sounds so yummy and fattening that I don't dare make it when I don't have guests coming as I know I'll end up eating it all which would be disastrous!

Anyway, here is a fabulous salad that gives you lots of vegetables and is delicious.

Have a happy week. Love from Jane xxx

Roasted vegetable, rocket and feta salad

Serves four

What you need:

• 1 capsicum, quartered
• 2 red onions, cut into thick wedges
• 3 garlic cloves, unpeeled
• 1/4 cup olive oil
• Sea salt and freshly ground black pepper
• 6 Roma tomatoes, halved
• 100g black olives (although I love green olives so you could use those if you prefer)
• Wild rocket leaves
• 125g feta, sliced
• Some extra virgin olive oil for serving

What you do:

1. Preheat oven to 220C.
2. Combine capsicum, onions and garlic in a large roasting pan.
3. Season the vegetables with salt and pepper and gently toss to coat in the olive oil.
4. Roast the vegetables for 15 minutes and then remove any that are nice and crispy. Do keep any eye on the garlic as you don't want it to burn.
5. At this point add the tomatoes and olives to the pan and return the vegetables to the oven and continue to cook for another 15 minutes.
6. Remove from the oven and allow to cool until still just warm.
7. To serve, arrange the vegetables on a serving dish. Top with the rocket leaves and feta. Drizzle with a little extra virgin olive oil and serve. The garlic should be all nice and gooey, so when you are eating the salad you can sort of squish it into the other vegetables and feta.

Prawn cocktail

Hello everyone, isn't it great that we are finally getting some good hot summer days? I went down to the beach one night during the week for a walk around 8.00 pm and the place was packed - I had to wait ten minutes for a park! This kind of weather puts me in mind of prawn cocktails. When I was little we used to have family holidays with friends at their house at Lake Macquarie, and Patsy, the hostess, initiated me into the delights of the prawn cocktail. We would buy fresh prawns at the co-op during the afternoon, then go back to the house and peel a big mountain of them. I returned to this dish during the week as it's such a quick and easy one for mid week dinners. I experimented with the quantities for the sauce and think I have it just right, but of course, you should adjust the quantities to your taste.

Have a fabulous week, love from Jane xx

Prawn cocktail
Quantity for one - multiply as needed

What you need:

• Whatever type of lettuce leaves you like, watercress would be nice
• 10 king prawns, peeled
• 2 teaspoons mayonnaise
• 1 teaspoon tomato sauce
• 1/2 teaspoon Worcestershire sauce
• 1 teaspoon lemon juice
• Lemon or lime quarter

What you do:

1. Shred the lettuce and arrange in your serving bowl/glass.
2. Arrange the prawns on the lettuce.
3. Mix together the remaining ingredients and drizzle over the prawns.
4. Serve with a wedge of lemon or lime.

Prawn and mango salad with maple creme fraiche

Hello everyone, every Saturday morning I listen to Simon Marnie's program on ABC radio while I'm doing my weekend chores. My favourite segment is when he has three providores talking about the best meat, seafood and fruit and vegetables that are in season. Then a chef comes up with a three course meal using the ingredients suggested. They are all great recipes that are given, but as dessert is always based on the fruit that is listed, there is never a chocolate dessert, and in my view if there's no chocolate then it's not a proper dessert. So in desperation this morning I sent Simon a text pointing out this omission and guess what? Today's chef came up with a gorgeous sounding Black Forest confection using cherries AND chocolate. Now, that's a real dessert!

This week's recipe is not dessert, but a sensational prawn and mango salad that is perfect for hot Summer nights (I am pretending that we are experiencing fabulous Summer weather and hoping that eventually it will come good). It takes no time to whip up this one. It is the November recipe from the 2006 delicious calendar which had some really good recipes.

Have a great week. Love from Jane xxx

Prawn and mango salad with maple creme fraiche

Serves four

What you need:

• 50ml olive oil
• Grated rind and juice of 2 limes
• 1 tablespoon maple syrup
• 1/2 long red chilli, seeded, finely chopped
• 100ml creme fraiche (you can buy this most places now) or sour cream
• 4 cups baby salad leaves
• 1 mango, peeled and thinly sliced
• 500g cooked prawns, peeled and with tails intact

What you do:

1. For the dressing, whisk together the oil with 2 tablespoons lime juice, then season with salt and pepper.
2. For the maple creme fraiche, in a small bowl whisk together the remaining lime juice and rind, maple syrup, chopped chilli and creme fraiche/sour cream.
3. Toss the salad leaves with the dressing and divide among four bowls.
4. Top with mango slices and prawns and serve with a dollop of the maple creme fraiche.

Pink grapefruit, avocado and watercress salad

Hello everyone, in the last couple of weeks I have made lots of salads. Regular readers will know that I did quite a few winter salads too, using roasted vegetables. Now with the warmer weather there's a whole new range of vegetables and fruit to use, and when I spotted this recipe in the October edition of delicious I just had to try it as it contains lots of different ingredients that I love. I made it for dinner on Sunday night last week. It really only took five minutes and looked and tasted stunning. Non vegetarians might like to add a few slices of prosciutto. I might add that when I was shopping for the ingredients that morning I must have tested every avocado in the shop and they all felt too firm, so I selected one and put it out on the windowsill for the day. By night time it was fine.

Have a happy week. Love from Jane xxx

Pink grapefruit, avocado and watercress salad

Serves four

What you need:

• 16 macadamia nuts
• 1 pink grapefruit
• 1 ripe avocado
• A bunch of watercress, sprigs picked
• 8-12 slices prosciutto (optional)
• 8-12 wafer thin slices pecorino (optional)
• 1 tablespoon finely chopped flat leaf parsley

Dressing

• 1/2 tablespooon Dijon mustard
• 1 tablespoon sherry vinegar (or whatever you have to hand)
• 1 tablespoon extra virgin olive oil
• 1 1/2 tablespoons hazelnut oil, if you have it, otherwise use more of the extra virgin olive oil

What you do:

1. For the dressing, combine the mustard and vinegar in a small bowl with a pinch each of salt and pepper.
2. Whisk in the oils, then set aside.
3. Preheat the oven to 180 and then toast the nuts until they smell nice, about ten minutes.
4. Peel the grapefruit, removing all the pith, then cut into segments over a large bowl to catch the juice.
5. Halve, stone and peel the avocado, then cut into slices of a similar size to the grapefruit slices.
6. Add the avocado to the grapefruit with the watercress and toss very gently to mix.
7. Drizzle half of the dressing over the salad and toss lightly, so you don't break up the avocado or grapefruit slices.
8. Arrange the salad on a plate, interleaving the prosciutto and pecorino slices, if using, with the watercress, grapefruit and avocado.
9. Sprinkle with the parsley and drizzle over the remaining dressing.
10. Scatter over the macadamias and serve.

Mixed cress, zucchini and raw salmon salad

Hello everyone, last night I made this divine salad for dinner. I adore sashimi, so when I saw this recipe that uses it I just had to try it. It is from my Spring/Summer SOS book. It is light and summery, and best of all, you can whip it up in just a few minutes. Mind you, I was making some rocky road at the same time as I was making the salad, so made sure I was really concentrating when it came time to tip the sliced salmon into one of the bowls I was using! It shouldn't be difficult to find the sashimi - I bought mine from a suburban fish shop - but make sure you use sashimi quality salmon that is ultra-fresh. The fishmonger cut it fresh for me and it was beautiful.

Have a lovely week, love from Jane xxx

Mixed cress, zucchini and raw salmon salad
(Serves four as an entree or two as a main)

What you need:

• Four handfuls of mixed leaves, preferably a mix of watercress, curly cress and lamb's lettuce (you can usually buy these sorts of leaves at farmers markets; if you are relying on your local greengrocer then just use a mix of what you can find)
• 2 trimmed zucchini
• 500g sashimi quality salmon
• 1 1/2 tablespoons mirin
• 1 1/2 tablespoons soy sauce
• 1/2 teaspoon sesame oil
• 1 tablespoon of any light oil you have to hand
• Juice of a quarter of a lime
• 2 tablespoons chopped chives

What you do:

1. Place the leaves in a serving bowl.
2. Using a vegetable peeler, slice thin strips from the zucchini and add to the leaves.
3. Thinly slice the salmon and add to the leaves.
4. Combine the remaining ingredients and mix well.
5. Pour the dressing over the salad, toss gently and serve immediately.

Warm salmon and green leaf salad

Hello everyone, I don't know where the last week went. It feels as if the end of the year is racing towards us. Not a bad thing, as we move closer to Melbourne Cup day you just know that party season is right around the corner....All the blue sky and sunshine we are experiencing in Sydney makes me think of weekends at the beach, BBQs and hanging out with friends.

This week's recipe is a great one for Spring, combining salad and fish. It comes from my Spring/Summer copy of SOS, which is always one of the first books to which I turn at this lovely time of year. If you can get some watercess and keep it looking sprightly it makes the salad look so pretty. This makes a nice lunch if you are having friends around, and is also quick and easy for dinner after work.

Have a great week. Love from Jane xxx

Warm salmon and green leaf salad

Serves four

What you need:

• 1 tablespoon olive oil
• 2 teaspoons almond oil (or you can use all olive oil)
• 1 teaspoon pomegranate molasses or juice
• Sea salt flakes
• Freshly ground pepper
• Juice of 1-2 limes (or 1 lemon, limes are very expensive right now)
• 4 x salmon fillets
• 300g mix of rocket, baby spinach and watercress
• 2 Lebanese cucumbers, sliced crosswise
• 1/3 cup blanched almonds, toasted in the oven for about 6 minutes

What you do:

1. Preheat the oven to 200.
2. Combine the oils, pomegranate molasses, salt, pepper and a teaspoon of the lime/lemon juice. Taste the dressing to make sure it balances as the pomegranate molasses can sometimes be a little tart.
3. Season the salmon and drizzle with the remaining lime/lemon juice.
4. Roast the salmon, skin side down, on a lightly oiled baking tray (I would line the tray with baking paper as well) for 8-10 minutes or until the salmon is moist and just cooked.
5. Break the salmon into chunks, discarding the skin.
6. Place the mixed leaves in to a serving dish, place the salmon chunks on top, scatter with cucumber and the toasted almonds and add the dressing.
7. Toss gently to combine and serve.