Baked Halloumi Salad with Sweet Melon, Prawn Toasts with Spiced Bulgur and Apricots

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Nigel Slater

Mon 22 Jul 2024 14.00 BST

 

It was the perfect summer lunch. The garden table set with large dishes and platters of salads; jugs of elderflower cordial on ice and bowls of raspberries to finish. There was no insistence on when to eat, the cooking was mostly done beforehand, the mood was relaxed for guests and cook. The fact that the sun shone for us was the icing on the cake.

A salad of crisp young beans and another of ripe, sweet melon with baked halloumi; a substantial platter of torn gammon, butter beans and parsley, and another of a fruit-flecked bulgur. To crown it all, there was baked summer beetroot with crisp toasts of white and rust-coloured crab meat. Salads for sharing.

An assortment of substantial salads is often the answer when it comes to feeding a horde at a summer lunch. No one wants to be tied to the kitchen on a day when the sun is beaming down and there are friends to spend time with. Dishes that can be mostly done in advance make sense. There can be a few last-minute tasks: a dish of cheese to bake, a bowl of warm beans to dress, or some little toasts to spread – but the less the better is my advice. On a bright summer’s afternoon, no cook could ask for more.

Beetroot and watercress with crab toasts (pictured above)

Some good things going on here. I love the marriage of crisp toast and rust-red crab meat, especially here with the earthy sweetness of beetroot and the peppery watercress. The beetroots are ready when a skewer will slide effortlessly through them and their skins will slide when you rub them with your thumb.

 

Serves 4
beetroot 750g, small
crab meat 250g, brown and white meat separated
dill fronds 2 tbsp, chopped
watercress 50g
samphire 50g
baguette 8 thin slices

For the dressing
lemon juice 2 tbsp
honey 1 heaped tsp
olive oil 4 tbsp

 

Method

 

Scrub the beetroot, taking care not to split or tear the skin. Put them into a deep pan of lightly salted water and bring to the boil. Lower the heat a little, then simmer for about 40 minutes, till tender to the point of a knife. Drain them, then remove and discard their skins.

Separate the crab meat and season the white meat lightly with black pepper and the chopped dill. Wash and trim the watercress and samphire, shake dry and set aside.

Make the dressing by stirring the lemon juice and honey together, then season with salt and black pepper. Whisk in the olive oil using a fork.

Cut the beetroots into quarters, add to the watercress and samphire, then toss in the lemon and honey dressing. Transfer to a large serving dish.

Toast the slices of baguette, then spread with the brown crab meat. Pile the white meat on top.

Arrange the crab toasts among the beetroot and watercress.