It’s definitely getting warmer out there. The days are longer, people are showing their legs and the pubs here in London are slightly more crowded (they’re always busy but you can definitely see a change when the sun is out).
This brings my mind to think of BBQ, the feeling of grass under bare feet, the smell of warm air mixed with the BBQ starting up. A cold glass of rosé standing on the table with water droplets dripping down. The birds are singing in their treetop choir and everyone is happy and smiling.
Aaaaahhh Sounds good, right? With every BBQ comes the extras.
The salads. The snacks etc. etc. Here is a super summery recipe for a delicious and simple salad that really celebrates the flavours of summer.
Rhubarb’s sweet and slightly tart taste combined with super toasted (by super I mean pan fried and oven baked) almonds in sesame oil, mildness from the green lettuce and juicy, concentrated tomato flavour from baked cherry tomatoes make this salad SO flavourful despite its rather simplistic look. On top, a ‘grandma’ dressing is completing this flavourful salad.
This dressing is from the 70s and why it is called ‘grandma’ dressing?? Well, that’s a good question. Haha, I don’t know. What I do know is that it’s delicious. I’ve tweaked the recipe slightly from the original recipe as I didn’t have the ingredients in the house. As a result, you get a better-for-you dressing that tastes just as good.
Green salad with rhubarb, toasted almonds and grandma dressing served with fillet steak and new baby potatoes
Serve summer on a plate with this super simple salad yet bursting with flavours. Let rhubarb, toasted almonds and a creamy sweet/bitter/sour dressing do all the magic. Here it's served with fillet steaks and new baby potatoes but you can have the salad alone or serve with whatever you prefer. The rhubarb salad is inspired by my favourite food magazine Spis Bedre, Denmark.
Rhubarb Salad
- 2 stalks rhubarb (rinsed and top + end cut off)
- 1/2 tbsp olive oil
- 1/2 tbsp honey
- 50 g almonds
- 1 1/2 tbsp sesame oil
- 1 butter lettuce
Grandma Dressing
- 1 dl creme fraiche ((I used Oatly))
- 2 tsp apple cider vinegar
- 1 tsp honey
- seasoning
Potatoes
- 500 g new baby potatoes (scrubbed and rinsed)
- seasoning, olive oil
Protein
- 2 fillet steaks (or your preferred choice of protein)
Potatoes
Rinse and scrub the potatoes. Boil then in slightly salted water for 8-12 minutes until al dente.
Rhubarb salad
Turn on the oven @ 180C. Rinse the rhubarb and cut them into pieces, cutting at an angle.
Mix the rhubarbs with honey, seasoning and oil and put on baking tray covered with baking paper.
Bake in the oven for 7-8 minutes. Leave to cool.
Toast the almonds in sesame oil on a frying pan, high heat. Careful not to let them burn.
When they start to 'pop', take them off and add on a baking tray with baking paper and bake in oven for 10 minutes. Let cool and then chop roughly.
Rinse and dry the tomatoes. Pour over some olive oil and seasoning and mix well. Put in an oven dish and bake in the oven for 15-20 minutes until golden and super juicy.
Tear the rinsed and dried lettuce apart and put in a beautiful serving dish. Top with the rhubarb, tomatoes and the nuts.
Grandma dressing
Squeeze the lime and mix all the ingredients in a bowl. Taste to flavour. Drizzle the dressing over the salad just before serving.
Steaks
Let the meat reach room temperature before grilling. Pat dry with kitchen towel, grind generous amounts of salt and pepper and fry on a very hot pan (or BBQ) with half butter half oil (to give it a crispy outer and prevent from burning) 3-4 minutes on each side depending on how done you prefer them. I gave mine 3 minutes one side and 2 minutes on the other leaving to rest for about 8 minutes. Perfect medium rare .