Adaptable Potato Salad.

One of my personal favourite salads of any kind as you can basically add anything to it or serve it with anything. A friend of mine recently posted on her blog about making Vegan Chocolate  Fudge (here's your shout out Sorcha!)  and it got me thinking that I have no Vegan Friendly recipes to hand so I am going to include some Vegan substitution here (hence the name adaptable). Some may say there is too much mayonnaise so you can reduce that however the one thing however here that is non negotiable is the amount of garlic though!

Ingredients

3 Spring Onions (Scallions)

6 Large Uncooked Potatoes (still in their skins)

2 finely chopped/crushed clove of garlic.

2tbsp of Olive Oil

1tbsp of White Wine Vinegar (Rice Wine Vinegar is the Vegan Substitute)

Chopped Herbs (Parsley for preference)

Black Pepper.

120ml (about 8 tablespoons) of Aïoli (a garlic mayonnaise) (There is a Vegan Friendly Version available)

 Optional extras: Cooked Bacon Lardons, Capers, Anchovies, Pickles and so much more……

1. Finely chop the spring onions and set aside.

2. Boil the potatoes and when cool enough to handle but still warm peel them and chop them into chunks.

3. Mix the Olive Oil, Vinegar and herbs together and pour it onto the hot potatoes, stir until coated.

4. Sprinkle the crushed/chopped garlic on top. Followed by the black pepper.

5. When the potatoes have cooled add the Aioli (or vegan substitute), the spring onions and any optional extra and stir until the potatoes are coated.

6. Enjoy. 

     Carpese Salad

Carpese Salad is simply Buffalo Mozzarella, Tomatoes, Basil and Olive Oil but my version adds a needed kick to the Buffalo Mozzarella which I personally fined lacking in taste sometimes. It combines this salad as well as one of my favourite spreads to put on Cheese, Cold Meats, Bread the list goes on, Tapanade, a spread made primarily of olives, in this case it is made thinner in order to make a dressing for the Cheese and Tomatoes. 

When choosing a Mozzarella make sure it comes in water and is white!

For the Salad:

2 Balls of Mozzarella- Drained and Chopped into slices.

2 Beef Tomatoes- Washed and Chopped into Slice.

Fresh Basil leaves.

Tapanade:

150g Olives

1 tbsp Capers

3 cloves of garlic

1 tsp Balsamic Vinegar

4 tbsp Olive Oil

Pinch of Chili Flakes (optional)

1. With the aid of a blender/food processor/hand held blender blend all the ingredients for the Tapanade  until well combined. You should have a thin oily consistency.
2. Arrange the Mozzarella and Tomatoes on a serving plate.
3. Drizzle with the Tapanade (as much or as little as you like) and garnish with the fresh basil leaves.

Pesto Pasta with Prawns and Brie.

This is probably among my laziest recipes. However it is one of my favorites at the same time :). Anyone who knows me well knows Im a complete cheese fiend. I've gone as far as buying six different varieties of cheese in one go, either way one of my favorites is Brie and I've been dying to use it in a recipe at some point (outside of fondue of course) so here goes! Either Pre Cooked or Freshly cooked prawns work well here.

Ingredients
250g Pasta (Spaghetti or Linguini for preference)
2 Tbsp of Pesto (freshly made if possible)
100g Cooked Prawns
Brie.

1. Bring a saucepan of salted water to the boil.
2. When boiling add the pasta and cook according to the instructions on the packet.
3. When cooked strain well and then tip back into the original saucepan.
4. Add the pesto and stir until the pasta is coated. Feel free to add some more.
5. Stir in the prawns.
6. Serve dotting the pasta with small chunks of the Brie.