Summer salads

ASIAN PEAR SALAD
From The Glass House, Bengaluru

SERVES TWO

INGREDIENTS

3 pears, boiled
Pinch of saffron
2 tbsp Dijon mustard
Salt and pepper, to taste
50 g walnuts
30 ml soya sauce
30 g sugar
Handful of iceberg lettuce
Handful of romaine lettuce
Handful of rocket leaves
60 g blackcurrants
Aged blue cheese, to taste 

METHOD

For dressing, mix pears, saffron, Dijon mustard, salt and pepper, and cook till flavours set in. Blend to make purée. Glaze walnuts with soya sauce and sugar, leave to dry and crush lightly. To assemble, toss together lettuce, rocket leaves, walnuts, blackcurrants and blue cheese, season with salt and crushed black pepper. Serve in a chilled salad plate, with a few slices of pears, and dressing on the side. 

ROASTED PUMPKIN AND GREEN BEANS SALAD
From Olive Bar & Kitchen, Mumbai

SERVES TWO

INGREDIENTS

To roast baby pumpkin

3 g sea salt
5 g peppercorns
10 g olive oil
120 g baby pumpkin, cubed and deseeded 

For the mimosa dressing

130 ml cider vinaigrette
100 ml orange juice
15 ml lemon juice
2 g orange peel
5 g garlic
50 ml pumpkin seed oil

For the mascarpone lebneh

230 g hung yoghurt
300 g mascarpone cheese
20 ml lemon juice
25 g garlic
Salt and pepper, to taste  

For the apricot purée 

400 g apricot
1 l orange juice
3 g star anise
10 ml white wine vinegar

For the garnish

200 g tomatoes, blanched, deseeded, skinned
Sea salt and pepper, to taste
40 g sugar
3 g olive oil
3 g thyme

To assemble

100 g green beans
5 g olive oil, for sautéing
2 g garlic, chopped
Sea salt
2 g pepper
5 g white quinoa
4 g black quinoa
5 ml mimosa dressing
Apricot purée
120 g roasted baby pumpkin
2 g pumpkin seeds
2 ml pumpkin seed oil
4 g tomatoes, to garnish  
3 g mascarpone lebneh
5 g Amaranth seeds, to garnish 
Sea salt and pepper, to taste

METHOD

To roast baby pumpkin, add sea salt, pepper and olive oil to pumpkin, and mix. Place in baking tray, cover with silver foil and bake for 8 minutes at 200°C. For the mimosa dressing, mix cider vinaigrette, orange juice, lemon juice, orange peel and garlic, and store in refrigerator for a day. Pass through strainer into a mixing bowl and add pumpkin seed oil, while whisking. Add salt and pepper to taste. For mascarpone lebneh, mix all ingredients in a bowl and store in refrigerator. For apricot purée, place all ingredients (except apricot) in a saucepan and bring to boil. Poach apricot in it for an hour. Remove from heat, discard star anise, and purée. Mix tomatoes with salt, pepper, sugar, olive oil and thyme. To assemble the salad, blanch green beans in salted boiling water till tender and then refresh in cold water. Heat pan, add olive oil and chopped garlic, cooked green beans, sea salt and pepper, and sauté. Cook white and black quinoa separately in salted water till al dente, drain and dress with mimosa dressing. On a wooden board, add apricot purée and then place thick slices of pumpkin next to the purée. Top the roasted pumpkin with French beans, mascarpone lebneh, quinoa, pumpkin seeds, and drizzle mimosa dressing and pumpkin seed oil. Garnish with amaranth pops and tomato petals. Serve warm.