When Autumn officially started 11 days ago, I was all ready with my soup pot and slow cooker, dreaming of new ways to use autumn’s rich bounty of fruits and vegetables.
As anyone reading this in Sydney would know, we’ve had 2 extra weeks of summer, as temperatures have stayed above 30 degrees and the humidity has been at 1000% every day and some nights too.
The hydrangea, my favourite summer flower, has continued to give me great joy with this extended heat. They began flowering early, last October in fact, and this beauty is the very last one in my garden. I just had to capture it in the fading afternoon sun.
So officially Autumn, but in the midst of a heat wave, we have kept enjoying The Weather of Salad.
It was on a bend on a very busy road that I saw the mango man, and probably with not enough warning for the drivers behind us, screamed at my husband to stop and let me get what would probably be the last box of mangoes for the season.
We’ve had mango at breakfast, after lunch and at dinner over this last 2 weeks of our extended summer, a fitting farewell to the fun, outdoor season that we love.
While the BBQ was heating and the boys were finishing in the pool, this salad was thrown into a bowl. Being honest, most of the ingredients chosen were because I was once again, doing a fridge clean out. But as I began throwing this in with that and chopping this, I could see that the colours and flavours were actually working.
I hope you enjoy it as much as we did.
Farewell summer, we’ve had a blast.
- 3 big handfuls of baby spinach leaves, washed
- 1/8 purple cabbabe, finely shredded
- 1 large cucumber, halved lengthwise and cut into thin rounds
- 1 corn cob, husks removed, or 1 small can of corn, drained
- 1 avocado, flesh sliced thinly
- 1 large mango, flesh sliced thinly
- 100 grams greek feta, cut into cubes
- a handful of yellow cherry tomatoes, cut in half
- a handful of fresh mint
- juice of 1 lime
- salt and pepper to taste
- If using a fresh corn cob, steam it in the microwave for 2 minutes or until soft. Using a sharp knife, remove the corn from the cob.
- Layer the baby spinach and cabbage in the bottom of a large salad bowl.
- Add cucumber, corn, avocado and mango.
- Top with fresh mint leaves, feta and cherry tomatoes.
- Squeeze lime juice all over the salad, finishing with a pinch of salt and pepper to taste.
- As with all salad recipes, leave out ingredients you don't like or have on hand, and substitute with whatever takes your fancy. There are really no limits when it comes to salads, however, the fresh mint and lime juice really do finish this salad off.
