A big bowl of greens, golds, textures and flavours – how about diving into this autumn salad with freekeh and a rather tasty chorizo dressing?

I had the urge to make a salad of some description with whatever jumped out at me at the markets. It’s been a while since I last went to a farmers’ market and let the produce tell me what I was going to do with it, as generally I go to pick up bits and pieces I knew I needed. Not that we shop at city farmers’ markets every week as it can be an expensive exercise.

I know what’s in season right now, but you never know what other goodies may be up for grabs. So there I was at the Eveleigh Market, taking note of fresh produce as I wandered from vendor to vendor with thoughts, ideas and combinations jumping about my head.

Root vegetables were a must, as it was difficult to ignore the bright yellow and deep purple baby carrots at every fruit & veg stand. And those beets!

Another couple of little surprises were the tiny zucchini flecked with green and yellow. I couldn’t resist those.

And then I spotted cucamelons at two of the vendors; those adorable little things that originate from Central America and Mexico. Great thing is that they’re grown here now, and they’re the most wonderful, crunchy little morsels to toss through salads.

As for the greenery, I snipped some of that from the communal garden in my street. The bright green sorrel was grown from one of those micro herb containers you can get from the grocers – another great salad addition. The other leafy bits are shiso, which I also grabbed at the market, plus a few leaves like nasturtium and native violet from my garden.

Now, let’s talk about that dressing.

I’ve infused some virgin olive oil with crumbled chorizo I got from the market. Done over low heat, the oils from the chorizo seep out and dye the olive oil, bringing with it that beautiful smoky flavour. All you do is strain it and emulsify it with an acid like vinegar (apple cider in my case), a little seasoning and some mustard.

So tasty!

Print Recipe

Autumn salad with chorizo dressing

Using seasonal ingredients, this autumn salad is not only colourful but it tasted really good as well.

Course

Salads, Vegetables

Servings

servings

Ingredients

Dressing

• 140 g chorizo skinned & crumbled
• 120 ml virgin olive oil
• 1 clove garlic sliced
• 60 ml apple cider vinegar (¼ cup)
• 1 tbsp honey
• 1 tbsp dijon mustard
• Salt & black pepper to taste

Salad ingredients

• Cracked freekeh boiled, drained and cooled
• Salt & black pepper to taste
• Baby beets some boiled and skinned, some skinned and sliced raw
• Baby carrots some boiled and skinned, some skinned and slice raw
• Baby zucchini
• Salad leaves I used a mixture of sorrel, shiso, nasturtium & native violet
• Cucamelons or use regular cucumber
• Capers fried in oil until crisp, then drained & cooled

Course Salads, Vegetables Servings servings Ingredients Dressing 140 g chorizo skinned & crumbled 120 ml virgin olive oil 1 clove garlic sliced 60 ml apple cider vinegar (¼ cup) 1 tbsp honey 1 tbsp dijon mustard Salt & black pepper to taste Salad ingredients Cracked freekeh boiled, drained and cooled Salt & black pepper to taste Baby beets some boiled and skinned, some skinned and sliced raw Baby carrots some boiled and skinned, some skinned and slice raw Baby zucchini Salad leaves I used a mixture of sorrel, shiso, nasturtium & native violet Cucamelons or use regular cucumber Capers fried in oil until crisp, then drained & cooled

Instructions

Dressing

1. Put the chorizo, oil and garlic into a small saucepan over low heat. Gently heat the oil and bring it to a simmer, allowing it to very gently bubble for 15 minutes.
2. Turn the heat off, strain out the chorizo and garlic and set them aside.
3. When the oil is completely cooled, whisk in the vinegar, honey, mustard and season to taste.
4. This makes 1 cup of dressing and is more than enough for this salad and many more. Store in a screw-top jar in the fridge for a couple of weeks, but be sure to bring it to room temperature when needed as it does thicken a bit when chilled.

To assemble

1. There are no rules with the proportions of this salad. Use as many or as little of each ingredient as you want. Add some others you may deem fit or do away with anything I've used myself. Do what you like.
2. Mix the cooked freekeh with a little seasoning.
3. Arrange everything on a board, platter or in a bowl, toss with some of the dressing and garnish it with those beautiful salty and crispy fried capers and the bits of chorizo that helped make that dressing.
4. Fancy a poached egg on top? Then go for your life.

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