recipes
Swiss chard salad with pap croutons
Leafy green salad with maize meal porridge croutons. Any fresh green salad leaves work well with these croutons, which are crunchy on the outside with a creamy centre. Adding some fresh herbs, such as basil leaves, tarragon sprigs or chopped parsley, gives extra depth to this simple salad.
Quantity: Serves 4-6
Ingredients
500ml vegetable stock250ml cream
375 g coarse maize meal or polenta
1 lemon, scrubbed
1 small clove of garlic peeled
4 tablespoons olive oil for the dressing
1 tablespoon pumpkin seed oil (any other flavoured oil will work e.g. sesame, argan)
1 teaspoon sugar
150 ml sunflower oil for deep-frying
300 g Swiss chard leaves, washed and trimmed
extra: a rectangular cake tin, cling film
Method
For the pap croutons: Pour the stock and cream into a saucepan, stir in the maize meal and cook over a gentle heat for 20 minutes, stirring continuously with a wooden spoon.
The pap should have the consistency of a very stiff porridge but add extra water if the mixture becomes too thick.
Now line the cake tin with cling film, spoon the porridge into the prepared tin and allow to cool until the porridge sets. Once the pap has set turn onto a chopping board and cut into 1 cm cubes. Heat the remaining sunflower oil in a deep pan and fry the cubes to a golden brown then drain on paper towels.
Salad dressing: Grate the rind of the lemon, squeeze its juice and crush the garlic. Mix 4 tablespoons of olive oil with the pumpkin seed oil, lemon juice and zest, the garlic and sugar. Don't forget to season to taste with freshly ground pepper and sea salt.
Salad: Toss the leaves with the dressing, arrange the salad on 4 plates and top with the croutons.
Serve as a light summery lunch