Spring was wet and grey, the dull miserableness continued through June, July and August and it’s not looking like there is much chance of an Indian summer. It’s mightily depressing.  So now and again I try to create summer inside by making food that is redolent of sunny days.

At the Farmer’s market on Thursday I bought some sweet and tangy pink grapefruit, the kind to which the addition of sugar would be a travesty. Combined with avocado and prawns from Lidl this made a salad that looked, and tasted, just like summer.

To make enough for two you need:

1 pink grapefruit
1 soft, ripe avocado
About a cup full of frozen prawns, defrosted

1 dessertspoon olive oil
1 teaspoon balsamic vinegar
Small piece of chili
Squeeze of lime

Salad leaves
2 scallions
Black pepper

The dressing on this is scant and light, it doesn’t need much and certainly needs nothing heavy. It’s simply made with very finely chopped chili, mixed with the olive oil, vinegar and lime.

Peel the grapefruit with a sharp knife, removing all the white pith. Cut into segments. Cut the avocado into chunks. Mix these with the prawns and stir in the dressing.

Serve on a bed of leaves, sprinkled with finely chopped scallion and a good shake of black pepper.

I used Lidl’s Mediterranian salad, which has a nice mix of leaves (Escarole, Frisée, Radicchio and Lollo Rosso) and which I think is good value at €1.29 for a 170g bag.

I know some people tut-tut about ready prepared bags of leaves and in a way it is ludicrously expensive compared to tearing it up yourself. But I like the variety of both colour and flavour in the mixed bags and if I bought three or four different lettuces most of it would end up being thrown away.

We ate this salad looking out on rain teeming down on the garden (which I suppose should be full of lettuce, but isn’t). It may not have been a good summer for people, but the flowers and plants just loved it and are still blooming in rampant profusion.

See all those apples? We have three trees positively groaning with fruit, all of it delicious. There isn’t a hope in hell of us eating all of them, so if anyone is in or around Kilkenny and wants some, let me know.

Tags: Apples, Avocado, Grapefruit, Prawns, Recipes, Salad
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Lidl’s standard Olive Oil is very cheap – €3.99 for a litre. However, while it’s fine for cooking with, it isn’t really of a high enough standard or an interesting enough character that I’d use it for salads or in any situation where the flavour of the oil really mattered.

It claims to be an Extra Virgin Olive Oil but to be honest I’m not really convinced.

I’m totally convinced by a current special buy however, part of an Italian food promotion. This is a monoculture oil made entirely from Italian Bosana Olives, costs €4.49 for 500mls, and is a real bargain.

It’s a light, soft oil with a mellow flavour and a slight peppery after taste. It may not pack the mighty punch that some expensive oils do or have their strength of character, but then you don’t always want that sort of oil.

The mild but distinctive flavour and light texture make this a perfect oil to use as a dressing on salads – it adds to the flavour of the other ingredients without overwhelming them.

It would also be great served in a bowl for dipping good bread into or drizzled over meat or fish just before serving. This isn’t an oil I’d cook with – real Extra Virgin never is and this seems to me to be the real thing.

I suspect that this oil will sell fast and there is generally only limited stock of these sort of specials – so don’t hang about too long before getting yourself some.

Try it with a tomato, mozzerella and basil salad – a typical dish of Sardinia which is where the Bosana olive comes from – the combination is a match made in heaven.

This is one of the simplest as well as the tastiest dishes in the world, just slice the tomato and mozzarella and tear up some basil leaves. Arrange the lot on a plate, drizzle with the olive oil and season with black pepper. 2 minutes tops.

This was lunch today. Everything except the basil came from Lidl. It was very, very good.

Tags: Bargains, Best Buys, Olive Oil, Recipes, Salad, Specials, Taste Test, Tomato
Posted in Best Buys, Taste Test | No Comments »