Recipe(tried): Salad days are here again! - Chicken Salad with ChevreToasts, Cream Vinaigrette, Oven Roasted Line Fish, Three Mushroom Salad, Zucchini Raisin Oatmeal Cookies, Pineapple Mousse

Hello there one and all,

I feel as if I,ve been away for ages(yet again)I,m certainly popping in and out at all sorts of odd times these days.!!!!!!

As alot of you know I've had quite a few house guests(more on the way!), building recomencing (not looking forward to that!)and my daughter leaving home for the first time and starting her first job all in one go!She seems to settling in and is loving her magestic veiws of the Drakensburg mountains,she says she fully expects Julie Andrews to come running over the nearest mountain singing *The Hills are Alive*! And we,ve had alot of Wet weather(much needed I do hasten to add!)We South Africans thought it would never happen and then quite suddenly and very unexpectedly there it was, Johannes burg bathed in sunshine. For the past weekend people have been rushing about animatedly exchanging smiles, gleefully looking up at the blue cloudless skies and enjoying the spectacle of sunshine again.We are a mad lot!

Due to this lovely weather I,ve been making lots of salads...so here is some of the food I prepared this weekend...

CHICKEN SALAD WITH CHEVRE TOASTS
Serves 6

4 chicken breasts
8 ozs mixed young salad leaves
1 tsp sugar
4 ozs mange tout, blanched and refreshed
1/2 lb white mushrooms, thickly sliced
12 black olives
12 slices peppered chevre cheese (goat's milk)
12 slices French bread, toasted
olive oil for brushing
1 hard boiled egg, finely chopped
2 tbsp toasted sunflower seeds

CREAM VINAIGRETTE

1/2 cup fresh cream
1 tbsp cider vinegar
1/2 tsp mustard powder
1 clove garlic, crushed
salt and milled black pepper

Sear chicken breasts in olive oil for 2-3 minutes. Cool and slice. Arrange salad leaves on a platter and sprinkle with sugar. Intersperse chicken slices, mange tout, mushrooms and black olives. Place a slice of cheese on each slice of toast, brush with a little olive oil.

VINAIGRETTE: Whisk ingredients together briskly in a bowl. Top salad with dressing and sprinkle with hardboiled egg and sunflower seeds.

Toss just before serving.

OVEN ROASTED LINE FISH
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Serves 4-6

4-6 line fish steaks or cutlets
1 tbsp honey
3 tbsp soy sauce
2 cloves garlic, crushed
salt to taste
2 tbsp sesame or sunflower oil

Blend honey, soy sauce, garlic and salt. Brush fish thoroughly on both sides with mixture. Oil a baking tray lightly and heat in the oven at 180 C until piping hot. Add fish and roast for 7-10 minutes, or until cooked through but still faintly pink at the bone. Serve immediately with either Chinese noodles or angel hair pasta and for a special touch add a fine sprinkling of chilli flakes and a drizzle of olive oil.

THREE MUSHROOM SALAD
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Serves 4-6

1/2 lb white mushrooms
1/2 lb black mushrooms
1/2 lb oyster mushrooms
2 tbsp lemon juice
4 medium-sized boiled potatoes, freshly cooked and sliced
1 tsp mustard powder
2 tbsp red wine vinegar
1/2 cup virgin olive oil
1 bunch fine chives
1 bunch watercress, well washed and trimmed
3 tbsp toasted sunflower seeds
3 tbsp homemade mayonnaise

Wipe mushrooms with a damp cloth. Slice ends off each stem and cut into thick slices vertically. Sprinkle with lemon juice. Layer mushrooms and room temperature potatoes in a salad bowl. Blend mustard powder, red wine vinegar and olive oil together until creamy. Pour over the salad and sprinkle with chives, watercress sprigs, toasted sunflower seeds over salad. Add dollops of mayonnaise to the completed salad.

ZUCCHINI RAISIN OATMEAL COOKIES
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1/2 cup butter
3/4 cup honey
1 egg
2 cup whole wheat flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon ground cloves
1/2 teaspoon ground nutmeg
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 cup grated zucchini
1 cup rolled oats
1 cup chopped dates or raisins

Cream margarine with honey. Add egg and beat well. Sift flour with soda, cinnamon, cloves, nutmeg and salt. Add flour mixture alternately with zucchini to egg mixture. Stir in oats and dates. Drop by teaspoons onto greased baking sheets. Bake at 375F 10 to 12 minutes.

Pineapple Mousse
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15 ml gelatin
25 ml cold water
1 x 440 g tin pineapple pulp
25 ml Marsala or Coco-Rico
3 egg whites
37.5 ml castor sugar
125 ml cream

Soak gelatin in cold water. Add boiling water to melt gelatin and allow to cool for 5 minutes. Place pineapple with juice in a dish. Add marsala and gelatin and mix well. Cool till mixture starts to thicken. Beat cream until thick and fild into pineapple mixture. Beat egg whites to soft-peak stage. Continue beating while adding castor sugar gradually. Fold egg whites into pineapple mixture. Spoon into a dish or individual dessert dishes. Cool till set. Serve as a dessert with fruit puree or custard sauce.

I hope you all had a good weekend
Til Later
Love
Julie