Happy Leons: LEON Happy Salads

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The ingredients of this salad together make an Olympic team. During her pregnancy my best friend Bridget was addicted to it. Her poor boyfriend had to cycle to the nearest Leon, night after night, in all weathers. Joseph is a beautiful baby, don’t get me wrong, , but mainly this salad is just very nice” Preheat the oven to 220C/425F and roast the sweet potatoes whole until just tender (45 minutes to 1 hour). Turn off oven, leave the potatoes to cool, then peel. Make the lettuce salad. Grab a large salad bowl and add the lettuce, 2 thinly sliced shallots, and the zest of 2 lemons. Keep the lemons! You need them for the next step.

Italian salami: If you can’t find specifically Italian salami at the store, feel free to use pepperoni, beef salami, or turkey salami instead. If you’re not a fan of salami in a salad, you can also use Baked Turkey Bacon. Over a medium heat melt the butter in a big heavy-bottomed pan. When it's just about going nutty brown, scatter in the bacon in separate pieces, not a clump. Keep cooking on a medium heat until the bacon starts to crisp and takes on a nicely golden brown appearance. Then stir in the garlic and cook for a further few minutes to release the flavours. Put the couscous into a large bowl and stir in the oil, cumin and a hefty pinch of salt, plus the zest and juice of half a lemon, making sure each granule is well coated. Pour 300ml of boiling water over the couscous, stirring well to ensure there are no dry areas left. Cover with clingfilm and leave for 10 minutes somewhere warm. Chowders are associated with clams, summertime and New England, but this is a slightly heartier recipe that gently slides into autumnal eating. Take extreme care not to over-bake. The brownie is ready when the edges are slightly crusty and the middle is still soft. The middle should be very moist but should have a firmish feel to it - about 20-25 minutes. Remember that fructose goes much darker when baked than sugar. The brownie also develops a glossy sheen and does not look baked when it is. I'll say it again - you need to be very careful not to over-bake.

Add more Italian ingredients: throw in some sliced red onion, slivered sun-dried tomatoes, and thinly sliced bell pepper. Serve: Enjoy this la scala salad recipe right away. Store leftovers in the fridge for 1-2 days. Store the dressing separately to prep in advance. Expert Recipe Tips Trim and wash the beetroot, then place on a baking tray with a good drizzle of olive oil and 50ml of water. Season and bake, covered with foil, at 180C/350F/gas mark 4 for about 1 hour. Once cooked, the skins should come away easily. Cut the beetroot into wedges.

Dressing - A dressing can really make or break a salad. We used a simple Lemon Vinaigrette, but you could swap it for our Tomato Vinaigrette or Healthy Ranch Dressing. Mediterranean twist: Add feta cheese, cherry tomatoes, Kalamata olives, artichoke hearts, and cucumbers. To store: keep the leftovers in the fridge and enjoy within 1-2 days. Note: the dressing may cause the lettuce to wilt. Recipe Variations Lettuce can start to wilt pretty fast after it’s dressed, so this is the kind of salad I like to serve immediately. I love to pair this with my creamy sausage tortellini soup for an easy soup and salad dinner. If you're serving this for a dinner party and want to dress it up a little, add a garnish of fried lemon.Child is of the view that “the root must … be softened in some way”, either by blanching, as called for in Elizabeth David’s French Provincial Cooking, or by soaking it with salt and lemon juice for several hours, which Child favours, because “it removes the slight bitterness of celeriac, softens it, yet preserves its flavour and freshness of taste”, an approach also taken by David Tanis in his book A Platter of Figs. Olney, Bourdain and Slater use it immediately, and Anne-Sophie Pic immerses the cut strands in iced water for 10 minutes, “to make them nice and crunchy”. Looking for more fresh salad recipes? Try our shaved brussel sprout salad, cucumber tomato avocado salad, or quinoa salad with feta.