Add a splash of colour to your Christmas feast with a citrus salad
While you might be in the deep trough of planning your 2014 Christmas feast, trying to decide which root vegetables to roast and whether to serve the meat hot or cold, we’re here to throw another spanner in the works. Why not shake up the traditional banquet by adding a few foreign dishes to the table? A flick through Greg and Lucy Malouf’s gorgeous new cookbook New Feast has had us adding a few modern Middle Eastern dishes to this year’s feast. This citrus salad with red radicchio and pomegranate dressing is perfect to lay the bed for a few slices of ham come Christmas Day.
INGREDIENTS
3 blood oranges (or use ordinary oranges, ruby grapefruit or a mix of your favourite citrus fruit)
generous handful of red radicchio leaves, shredded (or use red witlof (Belgium endive), bases trimmed and leaves separated and shredded)
2 baby fennel, or 1 medium fennel, very finely sliced
1 shallot, finely sliced
2–3 handfuls rocket (arugula) leaves
1 tablespoon tarragon leaves
2 tablespoons shredded flat-leaf parsley leaves
2–3 tablespoons pomegranate seeds
Almond-barberry labneh
25 g almonds (skins on)
1 knob of butter
1 ½ tablespoons barberries, soaked in water for two minutes, then drained and patted dry
labneh, strained for 48–72 hours
Pomegranate dressing
½ teaspoon pomegranate molasses
1 tablespoon red wine vinegar
1 teaspoon thyme leaves
60 ml extra-virgin olive oil
salt and freshly ground black pepper
TO MAKE
To make the almond-barberry labneh, chop the almonds evenly to the consistency of very coarse breadcrumbs. Heat the butter in a small frying pan and fry the almonds for around two minutes, stirring constantly, until they are golden brown. Add the barberries to the pan and fry for a further two minutes, stirring constantly. Drain on kitchen paper and leave to cool completely. Roll the labneh balls carefully in the cold almond-barberry mixture so they are evenly coated and then set aside.
To make the salad, use a very sharp knife to peel the oranges, taking care to remove all the pith. Holding the fruit over a large mixing bowl to catch the juice, carefully slice each segment out of its skin casing and into the bowl.
Combine the dressing ingredients in a small bowl. Add the collected citrus juice and whisk everything together. Adjust the seasoning to your liking and set aside.
Add the remaining salad ingredients to the bowl with the orange slices and pour in enough dressing to coat lightly. Mix everything together very gently and tip onto a serving platter. Scatter on the pomegranate seeds, then tuck the labneh balls in among the salad and serve straight away.
Serves four
This is an edited extract from New Feast by Greg & Lucy Malouf, published by Hardie Grant Books. Available in stores nationally.
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