The Walnut Hack

• lamb's lettuce
• pear, slice thinly
• walnuts, chopped
• cress
• shallot
• lemon juice
• apple vinegar
• mustard
• a little bit of chili powder
• orange marmalade (or cranberry/preiselbeer jam as an astringent variation)
• cream
• a little olive oil
• salt, pepper

Warm Rosemary Goat's Cheeses on Baby Spinach

• goat's cheese, gratiné with
• honey and
• rosemary

Sit this on

• baby spinach and add
• a few cherry tomatoes

Sprinkle with

• toasted or caramalized walnuts

Dressing

• olive oil
• dark balsamico
• honey
• rosemary or smoked salt
• pepper

Black Salsify and Pear Salad with Smoked Cream

• black salsifies (if fresh, you want them cooked, but they are a pain to work with, so we chose a jar)
• pear
• some grapes
• lamb's lettuce
• walnuts

• lemon juice
• smoked salt
• maple syrup
• sesame oil (roasted?
• olive oil
• cream 

Waldorfish Chickpeas

• chickpeas
• apple
• cucumber
• celeriac, pickled, or celery
• parsley
• walnuts (lots)

• lemon juice
• olive oil
• salt
• orange marmalade
• yoghurt
• shallot

Winter Salad with Pears, Cucumber, Mushrooms and Walnuts

Hard to find anything too appealing at this time of the year, that has not air travelled across half the globe.

For this salad you need equal quantities of

mushroom
cucumber
pear

all cut into cubes.

Add some chopped

walnuts

and make a dressing from

white balsamic vinegar
honey
olive oil
salt, pepper
half a shallot, chopped very finely.

Curled lettuce with walnuts and prunes

Curled lettuce
some walnuts, roughly chopped
prunes

a shallot, chopped

some soy sauce
honey
sesame oil (little)
and I happened to actually have some plum juice in the fridge, but you could cheat with something less fancy, like, eg. some apple juice

Have the prunes marinate in the dressing for a bit.

Can o' Beans

'Well,' said Can o' Beans, a bit hesitantly,' imprecise speech is one of the major causes of mental illness in human beings.'

Tom Robbins, "Skinny legs and all"

So let's try to be precise for once:

1 can o' green beans
4 spring onions, chopped
2 peeled oranges
1 red pepper
some 50 g walnuts
salt to taste (precision out the window)
3 table spoons olive oil
2 table spoons while balsamic vinegar
1 teaspoon orange marmalade
juice from the orange

Qt Tomato Salad with Grilled Tomato Sauce

little tomatoes, chopped
black olives
walnuts

That is the easy part.

For the sauce/dressing, chop up 4 little tomatoes and grill. Mash with fork. This is the base. Add some olive oil, salt, veggie broth, soy sauce, pepper, brown sugar, lemon juice and/or white balsamico.

shallot rings (not too few)
and some finely chopped parsley for topping

Sticky Brie & Date Salad

Curled lettuce
Yellow tomatoes

Brie or camembert cheese, maybe even a not so sticky kind
Walnuts
Dates

Shallot
Olive oil
Sweet mustard
Honey
White Balsamico
Salt, pepper

Beans and Walnuts

Hello 2013 walnuts. 

A super simple bean salad:

Canned green beans
fresh parsley, lots
sundried tomatoes
walnuts

dressing:
Shallot or onion
walnut oil
black pepper
dark balsamico, lemon juice
salt, a little soy
ginger marmalade, in this case, but some honey will also do
tabasco
some crunchy hot dog onions if you like

Waldorf Plus

A classic we've been wanting to do all along. Celeriac and walnuts, it's that time of the year.

Peel celeriac and cut into thin stripes.
Same with some (sourish) apples.
Pour over some lemon juice. Sprinkle with salt and a little sugar.
We also added a bit of orange juice. Some pieces of orange may also be  nice.
Walnuts, chopped not too finely.
An onion is a possibility, but not absolutely necessary. We have become kind of accustomed to them, thus chopped one without really thinking about it.
Cream, mayonnaise, a bit of white vinegar.
Some pickled celeriac can help if you do not have a lot of time to let this sit and soak a bit.

And finally, as a unique selling point, we have added some chunks of our favourite mature cheddar. It also entertains the chef, as it gives her something to nibble on in those hungry moments before lunch.

Mushroom Pear Salad with Gorgonzola Dressing

Attention! This is not for the weak and fasting.

The dressing is very rich:

Some gorgonzola or blue cheese, mash or blend with cream
a little olive oil
brown sugar
salt, lots of coarse black pepper
lemon juice and white balsamico

We had this with thin slices of:

brown button mushrooms
pear
radishes
onion rings (red)

hazel or walnuts for topping.

The uplifted frog - Celeriac, walnut, grape and cheddar salad

Oh, what a happy week we had. We went canoeing and made other people prepare our salads, we only had to eat and everything else was taken care of!

Feeling unusually rejuvenated, young and productive today.

pickled celeriac
seedless grapes
mature cheddar
carrots
walnuts

dress with:
shallot, chopped
olive oil
orange marmalade
coarse black pepper
honey
salt
lemon juice

Kitchen Findings

Let's see ... We went hunting and gathering through the deserted kitchen, and this was the result.

cooked beetroot - let us know once you are over them, we are not.
a piece of cucumber
Cut in cubes, sprinkle with a little lemon juice and some oil or marinade, salt, pepper, a little sweet mustard
rests of some marinaded and pickled veggies: pearl onions and mushrooms in our case


Then create "interesting topping" from
some breadcrumbs (pumpernickel-style schwarzbrot in this case)
some walnuts
spring onion
fresh basil
some cheese crumbs
and sprinkle on top.

Celery salad with Tabasco dressing & Walnuts

Celery, cucumber, some tear-drop tomatoes, preferably yellow. Walntus.

The dressing: Finely chopped shallot, then add some dark balsamico, tomato juice, some Tabasco - careful, the stuff IS hot. Olive oil. Salt.

You can add some dill or crumbled sheep's milk feta.