Salads are generally bright and as colourful as you can make them. However with this one, my harvest from the garden led me to thinking specifically of regal jewel tones, often seen in luxurious velvet fabrics and plush hotels. Very broadly inspired by North African cuisine, this salad is as sultry and mysterious as the recipe suggests. With the ingredients combined in unorthodox ways, and a nice tension between cooked and raw, this salad is full of flavour, texture, aroma, colour, and the delight of savouring the moment. It also works beautifully as a winter salad – if you have ever wondered what else to do with pumpkins, squashes, aubergines and courgettes, heres a new idea to try.

 

Ingredients

1 aubergine

1 courgette or zucchini

1 butternut squash

1 beetroot, grated

Big handful of fresh lettuce

A few sprigs of fresh herbs such as mint, dill, parsley and basil

 

For the dressing:

2 small radishes, grated

1 small cucumber, grated

Olive oil

Lemon or lime juice

Salt and black pepper

1 clove garlic, minced

 

Method

1. Wash all the veggies to remove any soil residues. Dry with a paper towel.
2. Slice the butternut squash, beetroot, and courgette into discs and rub them with olive oil. Then grill them in a griddle pan until they have char lines on both sides. Set aside to cool. 
3. Carefully tear the lettuce leaves up and scatter them on a platter as the first layer. Then rip up the fresh herbs you have chosen and scatter them over the lettuce leaves. 
4. Then decorate the salad with the wonderful grilled vegetables
5. To make the dressing, mix the grated radish and grated cucumber in a small bowl. Mix in the minced garlic, olive oil and lemon juice, and then season with salt and pepper. Whisk until it is nice and creamy, and then splash over the salad just before serving. 

 

 

This recipe is from Season 1 Episode 7 of Minjiba Entertains, commissioned by The Africa Channel and showing on RealTime DSTV Channel 155, Emirates in-Flight Entertainment, Amazon Prime, and Demand Africa.