#DressUpForSummer with Aspall vinegars

I love a good dressing and when Aspall vinegars invited me to take part in their new culinary challenge #Dressupforsummer I knew I will be right at home! So I have created three recipes using their organic range of vinegars and am delighted to share them with you! For me the best part about Summer cooking is that I can combine fruit and vegetables in one salad, bringing out the sweet fruitiness of certain veggies or the sharp tart notes of the fruits, and all of this is best bound together using a characterful vibrant vinegar. So this is exactly what I have done here in recipes 1 & 2, while recipe 3 will work a treat as a BBQ number! Enjoy and join in the challenge - follow the cooking method in the video I have just published on IGTV!

A fennel salad with grapes, celery, apple and radishes in a pungent orange dressing

For the Salad

1 fennel
4 sticks of celery
1 apple
a large handful of white seedless grapes
a large bunch of radishes
Fresh herbs: parsley, dill, tarragon, mint (a large handful of each or to your own taste)

For the Dressing
5 tablespoons of Aspall apple cider vinegar
5 tablespoons of olive or rapeseed oil
1 tablespoon of runny honey
1 small clove of garlic minced
1 tangerine zested and juiced
1/4 lemon zested and juiced
flakey sea salt, I used Maldon

Method

Finely slice fennel, celery and apple.
Quarter the radishes, and half the grapes.
Place in a bowl.
Finely chop all the herbs but don’t add yet.
Make the dressing by combining all the ingredients in a jar (I used Kilner) or a bowl. Give the jar a good shake or a vigorous stir if making in a bowl.

Pour the dressing over the salad and mix well. Add the herbs but retain a small bunch for decor and give it another stir.
To serve sprinkle with some salt flakes and extra herbs, zest a little more of the tangerine, and serve!

Beetroot in red wine vinegar and apricot-plum sauce

For the dressing

3 tbsp of Aspall red wine vinegar
3 tbsp of the apricot-plum sauce (see IGVT cooking video)
you can use an equal mix of pomegranate molasses & date syrup
3 tbsp of olive or rapeseed oil
1/4 lemon zested and juiced
1 tbsp of runny honey (omit if using date syrup)
a pinch of sea salt flakes

For the Beetroot
4 medium super fresh raw beetroot or ready cooked
rye bread
Russian tvorog cheese or Polish twarog
hard boiled eggs

Method

To make the dressing mix all the ingredients in a jam jar or a bowl. Just whisk them all together.

You can use ready-cooked beetroot or fresh raw beetroot here. For the cooked beet cut it into chunky wedges or raw beet slice it thinly. Place in a bowl and power over the dressing. Cover and put in fridge for a few hours. This beetroot marinade is so versatile. You can use it in a classic beet & walnut & goats cheese salad or I love mine on rye bread with Russian tvorog, grapes and tarragon, or in an open sandwich with good old mayo and a sliced hard boiled egg.

Grilled lettuce with a zingy caper-egg dressing

For the dressing
3 tbsp of Aspall white wine vinegar
1 tbsp of English mustard
1 tbsp of Dijon mustard
1 tbsp of honey
6 tbsp of olive or rapeseed oil
1 tbsp of capers with brine, finely chopped
large handful of parsley, finely chopped
2 hard boiled eggs, finely chopped
sea salt flakes

For the salad
3 large Cos lettuce heads
Olive oil
Sea salt flakes
Fresh black pepper
Hard cheese

Method
To make the dressing whisk together vinegar, mustard, honey and oil.
Then add the finely chopped capers, eggs and parsley.
Mix will and season with salt.
To make the lettuce
Cut the lettuce in half lengthwise, place on a tray cut side up and drizzle generously with oil and sprinkle with salt.
Pre-heat the grill and place the lettuce tray on the top shelf of the oven. Grill for 3-5 minutes until charred in places but not burnt and the bottom of the lettuce softens.
Remove and top with the chunky dressing! Give it an extra drizzle of oil, a grating of cheese and a crack of black pepper!