Cooking

Fantastic fig salads from tree to table

There’s nothing more exciting than growing your own food. I popped my head out the kitchen window to pick some herbs this morning, to be greeted by these two delicious beauties hanging precariously from their branch; threatening to fall to a sticky mess if I didn’t harvest them within the hour.

Now I know that there is nothing more satisfying than eating a freshly-ripened fig straight from the tree, but instead I decided to unselfishly share my treasure at lunchtime by making my favourite fig salad.

All you need is a bunch of rocket, some figs broken or sliced, goats’ cheese, cherry tomatoes, olive oil, mint leaves and lemon juice. That’s it! Now that’s what I call ‘from paddock to plate’ or in this instance, ‘from tree to table’.

I got this recipe from a fig producer in New South Wales and what do they say? Farmers always know how to eat their own produce in the best way to get maximum flavour. In my travels around Australia this has certainly been the case.

You might also like to try the fig salad with sweet potatoes and broccoli.

Look out your kitchen window right now and tell me what edible morsels are growing in your garden. You might be surprised, just like I was! Enjoy your salads! Louise

Join Louise on a journey through the seasons with salad ingredients, old traditions and popular, exotic or unusual vegetables. From Paddock to Plate founder, author, food writer, radio journalist & yoga teacher.