Life. Has. Been. Hectic! Work is busy. Eatin Mess is busy. Life is busy. Oh and PS. its Christmas, like, in a minute!!!
To give you an idea of the chaos I am currently living… this post is about, oh, three different things all tied into one. And just for good measure, a bit of classic ‘Laura under pressure’, I have somehow lost the photo of the finished salad I made at Hatch & Co. Skills!
As my local readers may or may not know, Westfield Garden City has recently reopening the refurbished Town Square dining precinct. Westfield have done a great job of creating a relaxed, resort feel, food destination, in the suburbs. Not only does this move bring quality dining options to the burbs, it combines my two favourite things; shopping and eating! It also gives the boyfriends and husbands something to do other than get in my way when I am on a shopping mission.
A couple of months ago now I was invited to the launch of the revamped precinct and a few weeks ago, was very excited to be invited into the kitchen of one of the Town Square residents, Hatch & Co, to spend the afternoon with established chef and all round nice guy, Craig Wright.
Hatch & Co offers a relaxed and friendly dining setting, delivery rustic, honest food. The Hatch & Co menu is a mix of light, fresh and seasonal dishes, as well as hearty slow cooking options, designed to share. Perfect. The dish Craig and I made was the Spring Vegetable Salad. A bed of the most beautiful Meredith Dairy Goats Curd and a mix of seasonal spring veg, blanched peas and broad beans, a mix of raw and roasted zucchini, finely sliced radish and squash, and picked mint and parsley all tossed in a lemon vinaigrette and topped with crispy fried kale.
The salad we made is perfect for the warm weather, as a side for dinner, or on its own for lunch. This salad then made me think about my roast veg salad inspired by Jamie Oliver’s La Brea salad. Here it is.
Westfield Garden City revamped Town Square
Westfield Garden City revamped Town Square
Selfies! Craig Wright and myself
Mise en place. I must learn to be this organised
- ½ cup sour cream (you could also use goats curd like the Hatch & Co salad)
- 1 tsp honey
- ¼ cup cider vinegar
- Juice of ½ blood orange
- 1 long red chilli, finely diced
- 8 baby carrots
- 8 baby beets
- Small bunch of mint leaves, picked
- Olive oil
- Salt
- First, preheat your oven to 200°C. Place your cleaned and trimmed carrots and beets in separate baking trays, drizzle with olive oil and salt. Give them a toss and roast, uncovered, until the thickest parts are tender and the thin bits are crisp, golden and gnarly. When done, set aside to cool.
- Next, make your dressing. I like to put everything in a jar, the honey, vinegar, orange juice, and chilli, and just shake it until the honey is dissolved.
- Place your beets, carrots and dressing in a bowl and toss to coat everything with dressing.
- Finally, build your salad. Spread the bottom of your serving bowl or platter with sour cream, then place your dress carrots and beets on top of the sour cream and then scatter with mint leaves and serve.
