Ask Peter: Salads to serve at a barbecue

I am hosting my staff Christmas party this year and want to impress (there are some big foodies in the group of 27). Can you suggest some dishes — I am thinking along the lines of substantial salads with a bit of wow factor — that can be served alongside barbecued meats, but the salads are substantial enough for people to eat without additional meat. Leena

What a great question, because I know the perfect thing to help you. In April this year I released my eighth cookbook Savour — Salads for all Seasons and it's packed full of such salads, along with meaty and fishy ones.

Thinking about the perfect salads, I’d suggest one needs to be fairly healthy as you’re heading into the time of year where gluttony can begin to take over and so a salad with lots of veges and grains will be a help.

For that I’d suggest page 98’s bulgur, grilled carrots and broccoli, capers, pecans and lemon. The bulgur needs no cooking, and you can beef it up with lots more parsley and mint than I suggest, making it more tabbouleh-like.

You can keep the grill or barbecue burning as the second salad I’d suggest is the grilled sweetcorn and asparagus with ricotta, goji berries and truffled honey dressing on page 135. Sweetcorn will only get better as summer rolls on, but by grilling, the flavour intensifies anyway, taking on a toasty character. Both these salads will go well with anything from the barbecue.

Try these salads from Peter Gordon

• Bulgur, grilled carrots and broccoli, capers, pecans and lemon
• Grilled sweetcorn and asparagus with ricotta, goji berries and truffled honey dressing

In our Ask Peter series, executive chef Peter Gordon answers your curly culinary questions. If you're stumped over something food-related, send your question to askpeter@bite.co.nz and keep checking in for answers. You can read more on Peter on his website, have a read of his Ask Peter articles or check out his recipes on our site.