Simple secrets to extraordinary recipes: 2 meatless salads with raisins

Egg salad is such a time-honoured dish that nearly everyone claims that their mother's recipe is the best ever. This one jazzes up the salad with curry powder, chopped sweet gherkins and golden raisins for extra chew, aroma and sweet-tart flavour.

Preparation time: 10 minutes

Cooking time: 0 minutes

Serves 4

• 8 hard-cooked eggs, peeled, halved and separated
• 125 ml (1/2 c) mayonnaise
• 75 g (1/3 c) golden raisins
• 75 g (1/3 c) chopped sweet gherkins
• 75 g (1/3 c) chopped red onion
• 30 ml (2 tbsp) chopped fresh cilantro
• 7 ml (1 1/2 tsp) curry powder
• 1 ml (1/4 tsp) salt
• A pinch of freshly ground black pepper1. In a large bowl, mash the yolks with a fork.
  2. Chop the egg whites and add to the bowl, along with the mayonnaise, raisins, gherkins, onion, cilantro, curry powder, salt and pepper. Mix well.

For a touch more flavour, stir in 10 millilitres (two teaspoons) drained chopped capers and 10 millilitres (two teaspoons) Dijon mustard.

Sweet potatoes dance the line between sweet and savoury, equally at home with honey as they are with black pepper. This salad pushes the limits of both flavours with honey, oranges and chewy raisins on the sweet side, and arugula, onions, salt and pepper on the savoury side. It's a fantastic combination.

Preparation Time: 25 minutes
Cooking Time: 20 minutes
Serves 4

Salad

• 500 g (1 lb) sweet potatoes, peeled, quartered lengthwise, cut into 1 cm (1/2 in) thick slices
• 15 ml (1 tbsp) olive oil
• 1 bunch arugula, torn into pieces
• 1 navel orange, peeled and cut into sections
• 1/2 small red onion, thinly sliced crosswise
• 45 ml (3 tbsp) raisinsDressing
• 30 ml (2 tbsp) olive oil, divided
• 15 ml (1 tbsp) fresh lemon juice
• 15 ml (1 tbsp) fresh orange juice
• 5 ml (1 tsp) honey
• 1 ml (1/4 tsp) salt
• 1 ml (1/4 tsp) freshly ground black pepper1. Preheat the oven to 200°C (400°F). Line a large baking pan with foil. Lightly coat with nonstick cooking spray.
  2. For the salad, toss the sweet potatoes in the baking pan with the oil. Spread in an even layer. Roast the potatoes until tender and lightly browned, about 20 minutes.
  3. For the dressing, in a small bowl, whisk together the oil, lemon juice, orange juice, honey, salt and pepper. Taste the dressing and add more lemon juice, if desired.
  4. In a large bowl, toss together the potatoes and the dressing. Add the arugula, orange sections, onion and raisins. Toss to mix.

To push the savoury-sweet interplay even further, add one chopped apple and one finely chopped celery stalk.

--------------------

Discover the smarter way to save time and money

Ready to start saving more on your groceries and pharmacy purchases? Download the FREE YP Grocery app today! It lets you create shareable shopping lists, automatically finds all the best deals and coupons, then delivers them right to you. No more manually scrolling through hundreds of flyers to find what you’re looking for!

Download the YP Grocery app now!