Figs, Raspberries & Pears,
Autumn Harvest Salad
for an
Indian Summer Lunch
In this modern consumer driven age of perfectly shaped fruit with nary a blemish, I find it liberating and slightly rebellious to break free and cook with all of the freshly picked fruit from the garden ~ fruit, that horror of horrors may have a bruise or have fallen to the earth before plucking it from the tree; fruit that still have the bloom of the heat on them and that roll around with merriment in my ancient old wooden crate, jostling for position with other fallen berries and those pears of a certain age. Fruit, and be prepared to be horrified, that may have had insects on them whilst wending their way through their small and short lives. We have become so detached from nature and how our produce is actually grown, that I have actually seen the horror on some of my guest’s faces when they are offered a warm fig from the tree ~ the lack of a Styrofoam tray fills them with a deep sense of insecurity, and I often find the offending fruit in the bin……shocking isn’t it?
Why I am ranting about this you may wonder, well it’s my pears of a certain age that has brought this on; as you can see from my photos, they are not quite perfect on the outside ~ a wee bit weather worn with the odd brown laughter line here and there…….a supermarket reject no doubt. But look, inside they are perfect, white and juicy and full of the Autumn sunshine……..how sad it is that millions of kilos of fruit like my pears of a certain age are discarded every year because they don’t quite make the “perfect” grade and actually remind us of where they came from, a tree OUTSIDE in the open air! I am proud to post photos of my golden autumn pears and will continue to fight to uphold the benefits of slightly blemished but beautiful fruit……will you join me?
This salad is a real Autumn Harvest salad and I am proud to say that all of the fruits I have used are home-grown. I would be quite happy to eat this sans meat, but my husband likes meat so to appease his carnivorous appetite I added a few slices of real Spanish chorizo sausage. I used two types of cheese, Roquefort and Brebis sheep’s milk cheese from the Pyrénées. The fruity dressing is made with raspberry vinegar, again, home-made and I will post the recipe later on this week. This is my idea of heaven on a plate for this unusually hot October we are having ~ even the colours seem to represent the season but in a sunny way…..golds, russets, ruby reds and Bordeaux wine colours…..the combination of flavours and textures is exceptional. If like me you can do without the meat, just ditch the chorizo and add a smidge more cheese. And, please don’t forget to adopt some blemished fruit for this salad too……after all, fruit is for all year and not just summer!
I hope there is enough of this Indian Summer weather left this week so you can enjoy this salad or indeed any salad sitting outside, maybe under the trees with the bees humming you to sleep……Bon Appétit!
Karen
Autumn Harvest Salad
A delightful salad for those last lingering days of sunshine and a wonderful way to use the last of your fruit harvest in an elegant and tasty way……serve with the ubiquitous crusty bread and maybe a glass of Chardonnay or Chablis.
~ Serves 2 ~
INGREDIENTS:
Salad:
2 ripe pears of a certain age, peeled and cut into quarters
8 figs, with a late bloom, cut in half
A handful of ripe, late raspberries
50g (2ozs) blue cheese, mature of course, cut into small pieces
50g (2ozs) brebis (sheep’s milk) or goat’s cheese, cut into small pieces
salad leaves, young and fresh this time!
50g (2ozs) chorizo sausage, sliced thinly
Dressing:
4 tablespoons rape seed oil or olive oil
2 tablespoons raspberry vinegar
salt and pepper to taste
METHOD:
Arrange the salad leaves on a plate ~ this makes a nice sharing platter, so use a large plate or two smaller ones.
Arrange the fruit, chorizo and cheese over the top.
Put the dressing ingredients into a jar or bottle and shake well.
Drizzle dressing over the salad and serve straight away.
Jennifer says
The pictures of this salad have made my mouth water – very difficult to do at this time in the morning. Think I will have to try and recreate this for my lunch today.
Susan's blog says
Gorgeousness in all its glory! I love over ripe and warm fruit…why others don't I'll never know, and that is a very lovely salad. x
Marie says
What a beautiful salad! I love fruit myself and I especially love it in a salad! xxoo
Working london mummy says
What lovely colours and composition, looks a lovely salad with some nice French bread! X
Kentish Keg-Meg says
I agree with you about the reluctance of people to eat or buy fruit without it being a certain shape, size and colour. So much wastage around. Lovely Autumn colours on the plate.
Irma says
Flavour Fest!
La Table De Nana says
You could sell your fruits etc.in pretty little baskets etc..jacques likes meat in a dish like this also..
It all looks so good.
Lauren says
No kidding about people being separated from the source of their food. One of my husband's coworkers had no idea it was possible to make chicken stock at home–thought it only came out of a can! AND, people totally freak out about raw-milk cheese. Seriously, people went thousands of years without dying from unpasteurized milk consumption! -Stepping down from soap box now-
Your salad looks lovely. Autumn produce is my absolute favorite!
Isobel says
This salada is a feast to the eyes. Looks delish!!
xxx
Janice says
I'll have the Chablis please Karen! Beautiful colourful salad, just the thing for a late summer lunch.
Gloria says
This salad look beautiful!! gloria
Aimée @ Food: Je t'Aimée says
Love this manifesto on blemished fruit! People really are so silly about it sometimes. I love food so much that it nearly breaks my heart to throw anything away. I'll get the scraps off anything that isn't rotted through… ha! 😉
STUNNER of a salad. Again with those luscious figs of yours! Just beautiful.
kellie@foodtoglow says
A bit late to the party but I just wanted to say that this salad is right up my street/avenue. Love every ingredient and can almost taste them as I read and salivate over the photos. Gorgeous!
Irene Wright says
these look delicious – especially the figs.
I cooked figs with duck breasts recently – delicious.
Also, had the pleasant experience of strawberries with balsamic vinegar sprinkled over them instead of sugar – also delicious especially with ice cream or panna cotta.