Garlic Mushroom Salad

Nice addition to any salad, best made a few hours before.

You will need:-

300g of mushrooms, roughly sliced
3 cloves of garlic crushed

3 tablespoons of olive oil
1 tablespoon of white wine vinegar
1 teaspoon of lemon juice
1 teaspoon of sugar
1 teaspoon of mustard powder
1/2 teaspoon of freshly ground black pepper

1 heaped tablespoon of freshly chopped parsley

In a small bowl whisk together the olive oil, white wine vinegar, lemon juice, sugar, mustard powder and black pepper.

In a large bowl mix together the sliced mushrooms, crushed garlic and chopped parsley.

Pour over the olive oil dressing and mix well. Transfer to serving dish, cover and leave to marinate in the fridge for 2 hours. Stir well before serving.

Cantaloupe and Crab Salad & Ginger Dressing

This is a recipe from what I consider to be one of the best diet books ever. 'Fat Girl Slim' by Ruth Watson contains mouth watering recipes such as Smoked Fish & Japanese Rice, Grilled Scallops and Tomato & Ginger Sauce, Thai Style Mussels. I love fish and the book contains plenty of recipes for the fish lover but it also has a good selection for meats such as chicken, lamb and pork and most importantly it gives advice on how to stick to the diet, to be positive, but when temptation gives in the final recipe is for chocolate mousse.

Cantaloupe and Crab Salad & Ginger Dressing

Serves 6

You will need:-

Dressing:-
3 lemons, zest and juice
1 clove of garlic crushed
1 inch of fresh ginger roughly chopped
1 stick of lemon grass, roughly sliced
2 tablespoons of clear honey
6 tablespoons of olive oil

Salad:-
2 cantaloupe melons, de-seeded and rind removed
1/2 cucumber halved lengthways and de-seeded
2 tablespoons of chopped chives
1 tablespoon (not heaped) of freshly chopped parsley
350g fresh crabmeat (or tinned if fresh not available)
watercress to garnish

1. Put all the ingredients for the dressing except the olive oil in a small saucepan over high heat.

2. Bring to the boil, boil until the liquid has reduced to half. Then press the contents of the pan through a sieve, season with salt and pepper and leave to cool.

3. When cool whisk in the olive oil, add more seasoning if required.

4. Cut melon into bite size chunks. Cut the cucumber into thin slices lengthways.

5. Put the melon, cucumber and herbs in a large bowl and mix together. Pour over dressing and mix again.

6. Using slotted spoon divide the melon mixture between the plates. Add the crab to the remaining dressing in the bowl and mix well. Top the salad with the crab and serve garnished with watercress.