A great summer recipe

I always have fresh mint in my fridge. Delicious in a gin and tonic on a hot summer afternoon, I also enjoy adding it to salads, sauces and even desserts. When I have a large punnet of mint, this salad recipe is my go-to.

Ingredients to make this citrus and mint salad

For the salad

2 large oranges, peeled and cut into chunks or rounds
1–2 kiwi fruit, sliced or diced (optional but recommended)
100 g feta cheese, crumbled
A punnet of fresh mint leaves
4 tbsp pumpkin seeds
4 tbsp sunflower seeds
Freshly ground black pepper to taste

You can create different versions of this salad, and it will taste slightly different yet equally delicious each time!

For the dressing

2 tbsp olive oil
1 tbsp honey
1 tsp Dijon or wholegrain mustard
1 tsp apple cider vinegar or lemon juice
Salt and freshly ground black pepper, to taste

How to make the citrus and mint salad

In a dry pan over medium heat, lightly toast the pumpkin and sunflower seeds for one or two minutes until golden and fragrant.
Set aside to cool.
Peel the oranges and chop them into bite-sized pieces.
Arrange the orange pieces on a large platter or shallow bowl.
Top with crumbled feta and fresh mint leaves.
Sprinkle generously with the toasted seeds.
To make the dressing, whisk together olive oil, honey, mustard, and vinegar or lemon juice in a small bowl.
Season with salt and freshly ground pepper.
Drizzle the dressing evenly over the salad.

Enjoy! Please tag me on Instagram if you’ve made this recipe, I’d love to see it!

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I have linked to some more salad recipes underneath the newsletter block.

Another salad that includes apple, is this Fennel and Granny Smith Apple Salad with Coriander, Celery Stalks, Toasted Pecan Nuts, Parmesan Cheese and Chicken Strips

This Watermelon, Feta and Mint Salad is quick and simple to make and a great side on a hot summer’s day (and the colours are reminiscent of Christmas, so why not make them a side on your Christmas menu?).

Chimichurri goes well with steak, but if you want something different, this Grapefruit and Sweet Piquanté Pepper Salsa paired very well with a Rump Steak.

For an Italian-inspired salad, I’d recommend this Blistered Tomatoes, Bocconcini, and Basil Leaf Salad.

South Africans love cooking beetroot as well, and my personal favourite is this Beetroot Salad with Whipped Feta, Bacon, Roasted Olives and Toasted Pecan Nuts. What’s not to love?

Last but not least, if you are looking for a potato salad that is delicious, but not as fattening, this healthy alternative to the regular potato salad will reduce your calorie intake yet still makes a delicious side dish.

Featured

Citrus, feta, mint & seed salad

I always have fresh mint in my fridge. Delicious in a gin and tonic on a hot summer afternoon, I also enjoy adding it to salads, sauces and even desserts. When I have a large punnet of mint, this salad recipe is my go-to.

Plum, Beetroot & Blue Cheese Salad

This Beetroot, Granny Smith apple and plum salad with a creamy blue cheese, toasted walnut and an orange and balsamic dressing has rich earthy notes mixed with sweet and tangy apple.

Watermelon, Feta and Mint Salad

“Awter mewons!” is what my two year old shouts through the shopping aisle when he spots one of these bad boys. And his excitement is for good reason. Delicious when simply cut in slices and eaten off the skin, there is so much more you can do with watermelon.

Exotic Pumpkin & Butternut Salad on Whipped Feta

Easter is traditionally when South Africans serve up a leg of lamb or lamb roast, but a good host includes some vegetarian dishes as well, to serve as either a side for the meat-eaters in your midst, or for vegetarians to dish up as their main.

About Shawn Godfrey

Photo credit: Niki M Photography

Shawn Godfrey is an entrepreneur based in Cape Town, South Africa. After the Covid-19 lockdown saw his business in financial distress, cooking was the creative outlet that helped to keep him sane. To keep track of his recipes, and encourage friends and families to join him, he starts his instagram account The Roasted Dad.

Fast-forward to late 2021 - on a whim Shawn (encouraged by his wife Lianne) enters MasterChef South Africa. It is a crazy time of life: running a 200 people business and struggling to keep it profitable, two small children with a third on the way, and about to move into a new house. But when Shawn gets selected to be one of the 20 contestants participating in the fourth season of MasterChef South Africa, he decides to go all in. Leaving his 7-month-pregnant wife to look after their then three and one-year-old children, he battles it out and comes back home five weeks later with the trophy and a million rand prize money in his pocket.

It all started with an Instagram account, but The Roasted Dad is so much more now. Shawn has stayed his entrepreneurial self and whilst he hosts Private Dinner Parties and Cook-with-Me Demos, does Restaurant Take-Overs, he still runs the lighting company and several other businesses.

On his blog, Shawn shares Restaurant Reviews and Accommodation Reviews, and gives an insight into the wild and wonderful life he leads together with his wife Lianne, and their three children Aiden (8), Olivia (6) and Harvey (4).

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