Clay Pot Warm Vegetable Salad

Ingredients

• 4 tablespoons virgin Olive oil

  Olive oil

  Usually the darker green the oil, the richer the flavour.

  • Extra virgin olive oil is good for drizzling on salads and should never be heated as this destroys the fine properties
  • Lighter olive oil is good for adding to bread, or to flavour a salad or marinade for chicken, meat, fish or vegetables. Lighter olive oil can be gently heated and added to marinades and baking.
• Freshly grated Parmesan Cheese

  Cheese

  Add to eggs for omelettes, grate onto soups or salads.

  • Parmesan often goes rock hard or becomes horribly sweaty. Ideally, all cheese should be stored in a cool, airy place at a temperature of 46-50F/8-10C. However, most of us put it straight into the fridge. This is fine providing the cheese is kept loosely wrapped in its own airtight container so it isn’t tainted by other foods.
  • Store it in the salad drawer, which is not quite as cold as the rest of the fridge and use a micro plane for grating.
• Black peppercorns

  Black peppercorns

  Best used as a condiment.

  They can be lightly crushed and used to spice up a creamy sauce or to coat fillet steak or chicken breasts.

  • Although it might seem odd, grinding black pepper over a bowl of strawberries enhances the flavour of the fruit.
  • Pepper that is pre-ground is not fresh tasting and often has other ingredients mixed in.
  • Choose the type of mill that suits you, and if you want coarser pepper you can loosen the screw on the top of the mill or crush the seeds in a pestle and mortar
• Salt

  Salt

  Consider tablesalt, sea salt or crystals.

  Sea salt’s pronounced and salty flavour means less is required to season food.

• Handful of shredded basil Herbs

  Herbs

  Ideal for seasoning pastas.

  To keep cut parsley or coriander, put in a hole free polythene bag with a couple of tablespoons of cold water, give the bag a good shake and keep in the salad drawer of the fridge. Herbs should keep for a week like this.

• 3 tablespoons Balsamic vinegar

  Balsamic vinegar

  Perfect for salad dressings and italian dishes

  • A teaspoon or two of balsamic vinegar can wake up the flavour in a bland soup, stew or sauce.
  • A sprinkle of balsamic vinegar on fresh sliced strawberries or raspberries with a bit of sugar really brings out the flavour of the fruit.
  • Heat sweetens balsamic vinegar and boils out acidity. If you want to mellow the flavour, heat it.
• 2 tablespoons Honey

  Honey

  Enjoy it over ice cream, yoghurt or pancakes or spread onto toast or croissants.

  • Honey is also an ancient remedy for the treatment of infected wounds.Manuka Honey has recently been ‘rediscovered’ by the medical profession, particularly where conventional modern therapeutic agents are failing.
  • If it gets too cold it will crystallise. Just put the pot in a microwave for 30 seconds and it will return to its normal state.