There are plenty of reasons why you might want to eat a salad. Perhaps you’re trying to pack more vegetables into your diet. Possibly, like me (and the rest of the internet), you’re in your chopped salad bowl era. Or maybe you just want to eat the highlights of a dish without the bulk.

That’s where these dish-adjacent salads come in. Each riffs on some of my favourite flavours, and while I would never claim they are better than the original dishes, for me, these salads put their tastiest components front and centre.

California roll salad

After being a devotee of spicy cooked tuna hand rolls for many years, my sister reintroduced me to the ever-popular California roll, and I was smitten. The contrasting textures – crunchy cucumber, yielding crab stick, creamy avocado and tiny pops of tobiko (flying fish roe) – combine in one fabulous bite. This is a low-carb way to eat all the flavours of one of the sushi roll greats in a fresh, textural salad bowl. Add sheets of Korean roasted seaweed, gim, and it’s a very fun lunch indeed.

INGREDIENTS

• 500g (2 punnets) baby cucumbers, sliced into 2cm rounds
• 150g surimi (crab sticks), cut into 2cm pieces (or substitute cooked crab meat)
• 1 ripe avocado, diced
• 3 stalks spring onion, sliced thinly
• shichimi togarashi, furikake and roasted seaweed sheets to serve, optional

Creamy dressing

• 120g cream cheese
• 2 tbsp Japanese mayonnaise
• 1 tbsp rice vinegar
• ½ tbsp soy sauce
• 1 tsp wasabi, optional

METHOD

1. To make the creamy dressing, whisk the cream cheese, mayonnaise, rice vinegar, soy sauce and wasabi (if using) together in a large mixing bowl until smooth. Add half the avocado into the bowl and mash it with the back of a fork, then whisk thoroughly to emulsify it into the dressing. Don’t worry if it isn’t completely smooth.
2. Add the cucumber, spring onion and crab stick plus a few shakes of shichimi togarashi, if using. Stir to combine, then add the remaining avocado. Divide between two serving plates and garnish with furikake and torn pieces of roasted seaweed sheet, if using.

Serves 2-3

Banh mi salad

OK, hear me out. I know this salad reads like a deconstructed banh mi, but this is a wholly different eating experience – and you won’t end up covered in breadcrumbs. I developed this salad using the components of banh mi thit, which features traditional cold cuts, sliced pork roll and brawn, but I realised that crispy pork banh mi is so popular that it made more sense to “salad” that instead.

You could make every part of this dish at home, but it saves time (and stays true to the flavour) if you buy the crispy pork from your local Cantonese restaurant and the pâté from your favourite banh mi shop.

The dressing provides the power here. Pâté is emulsified with smooth egg mayonnaise, spiked with pickled chilli and Maggi seasoning, a flavour-enhancer that, once you have it in your pantry, you’ll want to use regularly, especially on boiled eggs.

INGREDIENTS

• 1 head gem lettuce, torn or sliced into 2cm pieces
• 1 Lebanese cucumber, quartered and sliced into 4cm lengths
• 2 spring onion stalks, halved lengthwise and sliced into 3cm pieces
• ½ bunch Thai basil, leaves picked and washed
• 2-3 stalks coriander, washed and sliced into 4cm lengths
• 250g crispy pork belly, thickly sliced
• ½ cup pickled carrots (see note)
• crispy shallots

Pâté dressing

• 2 tbsp pâté (Vietnamese pork pâté or substitute chicken and peppercorn)
• 2 tbsp whole egg mayonnaise
• 2 tbsp rice vinegar
• 1 tsp Maggi seasoning
• 1 tsp fish sauce
• pinch caster sugar
• ½ tbsp ground pickled chilli (tương ớt) or 1 sliced bird’s eye chilli combined with 1 minced garlic clove
• cracked black pepper to taste

METHOD

1. To make the pâté dressing, whisk together the pâté, mayonnaise, rice vinegar, Maggi seasoning, fish sauce and sugar until the mixture is smooth and the sugar has dissolved. Add the ground pickled chilli, if using, then the cracked pepper. Adjust the flavour and texture with a little more rice vinegar or a splash of water if necessary.
2. To make the salad, place the lettuce, cucumber, spring onion and herbs in a large mixing bowl and add a liberal amount of dressing, stirring gently to coat. Just before serving, stir in the pickled carrots, crispy shallots and pork belly and divide between two plates.

Serves 2

Note: To make your own pickled carrots, submerge julienned carrots in a warm pickling liquid made with three parts water, two parts rice vinegar and one part sugar, plus a pinch or two of salt for about 30 minutes. Alternatively, you could buy them from the banh mi shop when you buy the pâté.

‘Manti’ pasta salad with crispy lamb and garlic yoghurt

A version of yalancı mantı, a Turkish-Cypriot dish of lamb mince and conchiglie pasta heralded as the “shortcut manti” has been making its way around the internet for some time, and having made it several times myself, I have to say it’s an absolute flavour bomb.

This version is more of a cool pasta salad that can be made ahead, then crowned with the delightfully crisp lamb and almond topping (warm or at room temperature), added when you’re ready to serve. Grated halloumi and a quick chilli oil made from Aleppo pepper and dried mint bring the whole dish together.

INGREDIENTS

• 300g conchiglie pasta

Crispy lamb

• 1 brown onion, finely chopped
• 1 tsp cumin powder
• 1 tsp smoked paprika
• ½ tsp black pepper
• 500g minced lamb
• 100g almonds, skin on and roughly chopped
• olive oil

Yoghurt dressing

• 150g Greek yoghurt
• 2 garlic cloves, grated
• ½ tsp salt
• 100g halloumi, grated
• 1 tsp dried mint

Chilli oil

• ½ cup olive oil
• 1 tsp Aleppo pepper
• 1 tsp dried mint
• 1 bay leaf
• 1 tbsp Turkish pepper paste, optional
• dried mint to finish

METHOD

1. Start by making the crispy lamb. Heat about 2 tablespoons of olive oil in a frying pan and fry the onions with a pinch of salt until soft and translucent. Add the cumin, paprika and black pepper and turn the heat to medium-high, frying until the oil takes on a reddish hue.
2. Add the lamb and cook, breaking up the mince as you go. Reduce the heat to low and fry the lamb for about 15-20 minutes, stirring occasionally, until it is crisp, dry and flavourful. Add the almonds and fry for 1-2 minutes, then season with a pinch of salt and remove from the heat. Set aside.
3. Make the chilli oil by placing the olive oil, Aleppo pepper, dried mint, bay leaf and pepper paste (if using) into a small pan over a low heat and slowly bring to a simmer. Allow the oil to simmer gently for 10 minutes, then turn the heat off. Remove the bay leaf and set aside.
4. Cook the pasta according to the package instructions, then drain, rinse with cold water, and set aside to drain thoroughly.
5. Make the yoghurt dressing by stirring the yoghurt, garlic, salt, grated halloumi and dried mint together in a large bowl, thinning with a splash of water if necessary. Add the pasta to the bowl and stir to combine. Divide between plates or bowls, and, when ready to serve, top with the crispy lamb and chilli oil. Sprinkle with a little more dried mint and grated halloumi if you wish.

Serves 4