Cantaloupe, feta, mint and olive salad

Living in sunny South Africa, we are having salads to accompany our gammon and roast chicken for Christmas lunch today. I thought that this cool melon salad would complement it beautifully. 

Sweet potato and avocado salad

This salad is based on one of my mom's favourite recipes. I can guarantee you, everyone will have seconds! 

Strawberry and Halloumi Christmas Salad

Watermelon, olive and feta salad

Roasted Table Queen and red pepper salad with radicchio, pumpkin seedsand honey mustard chilli dressing

I found the most interesting little squashes this morning - they are called Table Queens, and they are baby pumpkins. I made this as one of the side dishes to have with a barbecue and it went really well.

Bacon salad with Parmesan shavings and roasted vine tomatoes

Parma ham salad with blue cheese, strawberries and nasturtium flowers

I have just returned from 2 weekend in Spain. The cured meats in that part of the world are fabulous. We discovered two different types of cured ham in Spain: Jamon Serrano and Jamon Iberico. They are similar to Parma Ham, but nicer in my opinion. They are made from pork where the pigs are free range, and allowed to stuff their bellies with acorns.

We brought back a little bit of this ham which is the inspiration for this summer's day lunch.

Blue cheese, bacon and avo salad

Although it has been cold and wintery, the beautiful sunshine today inspired me to make a salad. This salad has crispy bacon, avocado, sprouts and blue cheese as the main ingredients. 

Queen's chicken with almonds

This is a slightly different take on Coronation Chicken. It is easier and lighter without compromising on flavour! It is a lightly curried, creamy chicken dish which is served cold and goes beautifully with a crisp fresh salad. 

How to de-seed a pomegranate, quickly and without mess

Choose your fruit wisely. They must be a nice rich colour on the outside and firm to the touch all over (if there are any soft spots - don't buy it!).

Goats cheese salad with butternut squash and crispy bacon

This salad has a few distinct flavours, which combine extremely well: bacon, goats milk cheese and butternut. You can substitute the butternut with pumpkin. 

Pomegranate, feta and aubergine salad.

This salad reminds me of Christmas, with the gorgeous colours of the pomegranate seeds and mint leaves. 

Cajun chicken and toasted walnut salad with a creamy blue cheesedressing

Make your own Cajun rub by crushing together the following ingredients in a pestle and mortar: 1 teaspoon of yellow mustard seeds, 1 teaspoon of paprika, 1 teaspoon of dried basil, 1 teaspoon of dried basil, 1 teaspoon of salt flakes, black pepper and some thyme (I like to use fresh thyme but dried is perfect too).

Blue cheese, figs, chorizo and chia sprout salad

This salad was very quick to make, and tasted fantastic. 

Halloumi salad

This yummy meat-free salad is very quick and easy to prepare.

Et tu, Brute?

This salad is inspired by Caesar. 

Chicken and mango salad with orange dressing

This salad was made by combining one of the season's most fabulous fruit, the mango, with a deliciously tangy orange dressing. 

Goats cheese and chorizo

So, today we made an amazing salad with goats cheese, fried chorizo, figs and avo.