Cress and orange salad

Tam West

I’ve added some sliced lamb fillet to this recipe as a good source of protein. However, if you want to keep it meat-free, toast some slices of sourdough bread and smear them with soft goat’s cheese or the delicious soft marinated buffalo mozzarella. This salad would be perfect to take to a potluck dinner. See my prep-ahead notes below the recipe.

Ingredients

1 splash	Vegetable oil, sunflower oil is good, plus extra for rubbing lamb
1 Tbsp	Wild rice (Main)
4	Lamb fillets, trimmed of silver skin and at room temperature (Main)
3	Oranges, use up to 4 (Main)
4 handfuls	Watercress, or landcress, use up to 6 (Main)

For the dressing

1 Tbsp	Apple cider vinegar
2 Tbsp	Rapeseed oil

Directions

1. Pour a splash of oil into a wide, heavy-based saucepan and place over a high heat. When the oil is hot, remove the pan from the heat and sprinkle in the rice. Place on the lid and shake the pan until you hear the rice popping. Transfer to kitchen paper to drain.
2. Heat a large frying pan over medium-high heat. Rub the lamb fillets with a little oil and place in the hot pan. Cook for 5 minutes, turning to cook on all sides. Remove from the pan to a plate, season with a little salt, cover with foil and a clean tea towel and leave to rest for 5 minutes.
3. Using a sharp knife, remove the orange peel by cutting down the contour of the orange and taking all the white pith with you as you cut. Slice oranges into thin slices, then cut slices in half.
4. Layer the cress and orange slices on a large serving plate. Slice the lamb and scatter over the salad.
5. For the dressing, place the vinegar and oil in a small screw-top jar and season. Shake well and pour over the salad.
6. Scatter over the popped rice then serve the salad straight away.

Prep ahead

• Trim the lamb fillets of silverskin, cover and keep in the fridge.
• Remove the peel from the oranges, place in a shallow bowl, cover well and keep in the fridge overnight.
• Make up the dressing ahead and take in the jar if you need to transport the salad to a shared meal.

More of Kathy's potluck recipes

• Roasted root vegetables and pearl barley
• Onion tart