Step it up salad

Lifting the elements of a basic salad is simple, using nature’s offerings. Lots of vegetables excite in uniqueness, whether through size or colour.

Vegetables that range in shape and shade, like cherry tomatoes and radishes, are the answer. These ‘designer’ vegetables bring the brilliance so you don’t have to spend hours in the kitchen. In the cherry tomato family, you’ll find varieties that are red, yellowy-gold, pale yellow, black, and green. With radishes, choose from the watermelon radish, the French Breakfast, and Scarlet Finger, to gourmet blends in a range of whites, pinks, reds, and purples. Add these to a bed of rocket leaves, and you’ll have a salad that took little effort but looks and tastes sensational.

Designer vegetable salad

Ingredients

• Rocket, by the handful
• 2 cups cherry tomatoes in a range of colours
• 1 cup mozzarella, feta, or blue cheese
• 1/8 – 1/4 cup nuts or seeds of choice
• Olive oil or vinaigrette of choice, to taste

Method

1. Fill a bowl with a few handfuls of rocket, depending on the number of guests you’re feeding, and set aside.
2. Slice your radish of choice thinly and chop cherry tomatoes in half. Add to your bed of leaves.
3. Crumble cheese over your salad and add nuts or seeds.
4. Drizzle with vinaigrette or olive oil, or leave plain.

Top tips
Swap out your usual mozzarella for mozzarella balls and leave cherry tomatoes whole, keeping the dish elements circular, to add some
extra interest.
Grill cherry tomatoes and radishes for another dimension in flavour.