Smoked salmon, asparagus and dill tart

The Lettuce Shop hopes you had a wonderful Christmas. If you are not yet back at work we also hope you are having a refreshing break and are making the most of the downtime. In our busy lives downtime is so essential, and after the busy period that comes before the festive season it's important to use downtime wisely.

Here is a tried and tested easy recipe for you. It contains simple ingredients and is quick to whip up on a summers night to be enjoyed with a lovely summer salad.

Ingredients: (serves 4)

100g smoked salmon, sliced

4 asparagus spears, cut in half and sliced lengthways

2 tbs dill, chopped

4 eggs

185ml cream

Salt and pepper

For crust:

250g unsalted butter, diced, at room temperature

250g plain flour

250g ricotta

Mix the flour and cubed butter together with your fingers to make a crumby consistency. Once crumbs have formed add the ricotta and combine well. Roll pastry out into a disc shape, cover with cling wrap and place into the fridge for 30 minutes.

After 30 minutes take the pastry out of the fridge, roll out on a floured surface, fold into 3 like an envelope and roll out again. You need to make a circular shape at about 10mm thickness. Once rolled out, gently lift the dough with a rolling pin and place into a greased 28cm flan tin. Press into the sides and cut off any excess.

Cover pastry case with greaseproof paper and baking weights or uncooked rice and bake for 12 minutes, crust will reduce down sides of tart tin. Remove baking paper and rice and bake for another 5 minutes.

Combine eggs, cream and dill in a bowl, season with salt and pepper. Place sliced smoked salmon and asparagus in the bottom of the pastry case, top with egg and cream mix. Bake in 180^oC oven for approx 30 minutes or until set and golden colour.

Serve with a crisp, leafy salad.

Rocket, pear and walnut salad

It's only natural that as purveyors of fresh produce we enjoy dishes loaded with greens. This summer salad is so easy it will make you wonder how it can taste this good. The secret is the freshest of fresh greens and a tangy yet sweet delicious dressing. Fresh, ripe, thinly sliced pear only adds to the crispness of this salad. Paired with a BBQ feast or eaten on its own, it won’t disappoint.

Ingredients:

1 pear, finely sliced

1 bunch of rocket

1 bunch of baby spinach

1 handful of chopped walnuts

Parmesan cheese

Dressing:

1 tbs honey (or 1 tbs mango chutney)

2 cloves garlic, crushed

½ tbs wholegrain mustard

Splash of balsamic vinegar

2 tbs olive oil

Sea salt and freshly cracked pepper

Roast walnuts in hot pan for a few minutes until aromatic. Combine dressing ingredients together, mix well and set aside for 15 minutes; remove garlic. Toss roasted walnuts into a bowl with rocket and baby spinach. Add sliced pear, drizzle with dressing and top with freshly shaved parmesan.

Eat immediately!

Special Christmas delivery times

The Lettuce Shop will be closed for deliveries over the Christmas and New Year period following last deliveries on Friday 23rd December through Friday 6th January. To ensure you get your delivery of fresh produce in time for Christmas why not pop your order in now! We have put on a few extra deliveries to assist during the busy lead up to Christmas, extra deliveries for this week are as follows.

• Hills/Southern suburbs - Thursday 2pm to 5pm; orders in by Wednesday 10pm
• Northern Suburbs - Friday 5am to 10am; orders in by Wednesday 10pm
• Canning Hwy South/Western suburbs - Friday 2pm to 7pm; orders in by Thursday 10pm

To find out delivery times for your area you can also refer to our website. Simply enter your postcode into the box in the bottom left side of the screen and we'll let you know what days we deliver to you. We will commence taking orders for these extra deliveries immediately. With early orders we have a better chance of ensuring you don’t miss out on something you need, so place your order now.

Meat ordersWith a higher than usual demand leading up to Christmas we would also like to ensure our customers do not miss out on organic beef orders so we urge you to place your order in asap. Be prepared for Christmas dinner and get your order for meat and fresh produce in now.

Seasons GreetingsThe Lettuce Shop team thank you for your patronage this year and we wish you all a Merry Christmas. We look forward to providing you quality produce in the New Year. Pop back here and to our Facebook page during the holidays for some holiday and recipe ideas. And don’t forget to share your ideas with us too!
                   

Seasons Greetings,

The Lettuce Shop Team 

Roasted sweet potato salad

When the warmer weather hits there is no better reason to drag out the BBQ and enjoy a good Aussie summer backyard barbie. And what better accompaniment to the BBQ than a fresh, green salad. This salad has a nutty flavour with the addition of walnuts and sunflower kernels, you can add any nuts you like. You could also replace the sweet potato with roasted pumpkin. Easy, delicious and super healthy!

Ingredients:

2 sweet potato, peeled and diced

150g baby spinach leaves

100g rocket

2 tbs walnuts

2 tbs sunflower kernels

2 tbs fresh lemon juice

1 tbs extra virgin olive oil

1 garlic clove, crushed

1 tsp honey

Sea salt and pepper

Preheat oven to 180°C. Place the diced sweet potato on a baking tray, drizzle with lashings of olive oil and freshly ground sea salt and pepper. Roast for approx 40 minutes or until lightly browned and softened. You could also roast the sweet potato under your BBQ hood.

On another baking tray spread the walnuts and sunflower kernels, bake 6-7 minutes and set aside to cool.

Combine lemon juice, oil, garlic and honey well. Set aside.

Once the sweet potato is roasted, combine with baby spinach and rocket in a large serving bowl. Remove the garlic from the dressing and drizzle dressing over the salad. Sprinkle the nuts on top and serve.

Banana date loaf

There is nothing quite like the smell of banana loaf fresh out the oven, and with a recipe this easy who can resist trying it out! This recipe is from taste.com.au and has been tried and tested. And tasted.

Ingredients:

2 cups self-raising flour

1 tsp bicarb soda

1 tsp ground nutmeg

125g pitted dates, chopped

½ cup caster sugar

1 cup milk

2 eggs

1 cup mashed banana (about 2 large)

Preheat oven to 180^oC. Grease a large loaf pan (24 x 13cm). Mix flour, bicarb soda and nutmeg in a bowl. Mix through the chopped dates and sugar.

Combine milk, eggs and mashed banana in a separate bowl. Fold the date mixture through until well combined and pour combined mixture into the loaf pan. Bake for 45-50 minutes or until an inserted skewer comes out clean. Cool for 10 minutes, turn out onto a wire rack to completely cool.

Slice and serve! Goes down well with a good cup of coffee.

Blueberries

Did you know that blueberries are one of the highest sources of antioxidants of any fruit? For such a small berry they pack a healthy punch! They are also low in calories, high in fibre and a good source of vitamin C and potassium. At The Lettuce Shop we have recently noticed a rise in the popularity of blueberries, they have become quite the little favourite.

Blueberries are their best when they are plump, smooth skinned and dark in colour with a whitish haze covering the skin called 'bloom'. If stored correctly they can be kept for up to two weeks. They store best in the fridge and spoil quickly if left at room temperature. Do not wash them prior to storing them, they are best kept with the bloom coating and washed right before you eat them. Remove any crushed blueberries before storing them and store in a sealed plastic or glass container. Blueberries also freeze well.

Blueberries are so versatile, they make a delicious filling for cakes and tarts, can be added to drinks and can be eaten fresh in fruit salad or on your favourite breakfast cereal.

Blueberry season in WA is November through to March so if you want to enjoy the deliciousness that is this little fruit, now is the time to get your hands on them. Order yours now!

Meet our social media coordinator

The Lettuce Shop is passionate about providing convenience for our customers with our easy ordering process and delivery to your front door. We are also passionate about communicating with our customers, we love to keep you informed and we love feedback!

Recently through our love of keeping in touch with our customers we employed a social media coordinator to manage our newsletter, our blog and our Facebook page. Peggy Saas is a writer who is passionate about social media. She is also passionate about good food! The collaboration works well, she writes exactly what we want you to know about The Lettuce Shop. She also contributes with her very own photographs taken for The Lettuce Shop so the images you see are in fact not someone else’s images, they’re ours.

Peggy has recently released her very first eBook titled The Self-Love Guide for the Working Mum and we thought we would share the news with you. The Self-Love Guide for the Working Mum is a no-nonsense guide for working mums in maintaining balance and calm in the busy working mum world. If you would like to take a look please pop over to Peggy’s blog, she has provided two testimonials and an insight to her eBook.

Happy reading!

Cassandra (and Peggy)

Pasta provencale - quick and easy!

In our busy lives quick, healthy meals are essential. After coming home from a long day at work the last thing we want to do is spend hours in the kitchen! This recipe is not only super quick and fuss free, it is full of delicious vegetables. All fresh produce in this recipe can be ordered from The Lettuce Shop website, we will deliver it straight to your front door. It doesn’t get much easier than that!

Ingredients:

300g penne

1 punnet cherry tomatoes, whole

1 zucchini, chopped

½ brown onion, diced

6-8 mushrooms, halved

1-2 cloves garlic, crushed

¼ cup basil leaves

Handful of pine nuts

Olive oil

Balsamic vinegar

Sea salt & cracked black pepper

Romano cheese, freshly grated

Method:

Bring a large pot of salted water to the boil and cook the penne according to the packet instructions. Preheat oven to 200^oC.

In a baking dish place tomatoes, zucchini, garlic and onion. Drizzle with a generous amount of olive oil and season with freshly ground sea salt and black pepper. Roast in the oven for 10-12 minutes, then add mushrooms and roast for a further 5 minutes. If you like your mushrooms softer you could place them in with the other vegetables.

Remove tray from the oven and place the tomatoes into a bowl, squash with a fork. Drizzle with balsamic vinegar and mix gently. Add the remaining vegetables.

Heat up a large frying pan and pour the roasted mixture into the pan. Add the cooked pasta and toss until the sauce is mixed through nicely. Remove from the heat, add some torn basil leaves, pine nuts and season. After serving top with freshly grated Romano cheese.