Fiscally responsible business lunch – Caprese salad with a twist
I’ve made salads
before on this blog, but today you may notice a difference in the surroundings
they were prepared in...
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| I prefer to focus on the hills and forests, not on the cars or my job at lunchtime. And no, I did *not* go dumpster diving either! |
Correct – this is obviously not the SupermarketValueFood®
kitchen, this is the view from the canteen in my office. A challenge
to make anything from scratch, other than in a microwave. Normally it’s heated up soup, or pay for
sandwiches like everyone else for lunch for the staff. But not for me today.
Today’s budget ingredient (in addition to some of the
iceberg lettuce and salad tomatoes I picked up from the Co for 59p each a few
weeks back) is this ball of Basic Mozzarella for 50p.
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| 50p for a large fist shape of cheese? Let's give it a shot... |
*munch* - It’s not so much of a cheese as a sphere of edible
consistency. I can see it being an
addition to something, just not an ingredient on its own. If you had enough toppings it would go well
on a budget pizza. I *do* like the
texture though – pleasantly stringy and chewy.
Classic Caprese
salad is simply tomatoes, basil and buffalo mozzarella seasoned with olive
oil and salt. But I need to bulk this up
if I’m going to last the day at the desk.
Ingredients - for one as a light lunch or two as an
antipasto
-
Half a ball of mozzarella, peeled; torn off, not
sliced.
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2 or 3 salad tomatoes, sliced.
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1 bunch of basil, torn
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Olive oil
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Salt and pepper
Here I deviate from tradition, add extra edibles, and also
experiment…
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4-5 leaves of iceberg lettuce, cut or torn into
fork sized chunks.
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1 small handful of chard, or any other salad
leaves you have to hand.
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1 small bunch worth of mixed chopped herbs – I
got the chard, plus a bunch each of coriander, parsley, and the basil, from St.
George’s Market for a quid, and there’ll still be plenty left after
this… So coriander and parsley it is.
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2 or 3 tsp soy sauce. Yes, soy sauce.
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Dried herbs – oregano and basil today, for
garnish.
Method
Put a layer of iceberg lettuce and some of the herbs on the
bottom of a plate.
Top with a layer of tomatoes. Add some salt to them. Now put a chunk of the mozzarella and a bit
of basil on top of each slice. Dress with
a little olive oil.
Layer more of the chard/ iceberg lettuce, salad leaves and
chopped herbs, and repeat the process with the remaining tomatoes, mozzarella
and basil. Dust with the dried herbs and
finish with a little more oil.
Now drip the soy sauce down to the bottom of the plate in
four corners and add a small amount on top over the oil. Serve.
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| Healthy, fast, tasty, cheap, what more do you want to keep you going through another 5 hours of work? |
*munch*
I’ll be honest, the parsley is maybe a bit too bitter for
this recipe and I’m not getting much from the dried herbs (although they do
look aesthetically pleasing). I also
should have taken the tomatoes out of the fridge sooner (it’s way colder than
mine at home and they were almost frozen – they should really be left in the
sun to ripen and go juicy…)
That aside - each forkful of tomato, mozzarella, basil and
oil, is delicious. This recipe is a classic
for a reason, and the extra salad veg layered in makes this feel more like a
lunch than a starter. The real surprise
is how well the soy sauce and oil, and the fresh coriander keeps things
interesting.
That’ll keep me going through the 3 o’clock meeting, and all
at a fraction of the cost of what you’d pay for in a restaurant (on expenses)
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| There were some jealous looks in the office when I knocked this together |
PS:
The next day I was able to make a “Superfood “salad, containing chard, rocket, kale and beetroot (priced
at …) with the rest of the iceberg lettuce plus a few grated radishes, a pack
of which cost 9p, the remaining herbs (minus the parsley) with Supermarket
chicken peri-peri (priced at £1.35 down from £2.99) I added a home-made mustard
and olive oil dressing (1 heaped tsp Dijon mustard to 1/3 cup oil, whisked
thoroughly.
