The Breakfast Salad.

Breakfast Salad
By the Chef on Safari

The Breakfast Salad is based on three essential ingredients - Fresh fruit, a good quality fresh yoghurt and fresh chilled iceberg lettuce.

When I am home with my partner, I treat her on a day to day ritual of breakfast in bed regardless of it being a weekday or a weekend. One her favorite breakfasts is the fresh breakfast salad, accompanied with freshly made freshly made wholemeal rolls and freshly squeezed fruit juice.

On fine sunny mornings we will invite our friends over to join us. We have a ritual in this method and that is the ladies relax with a magazine and the gentlemen read the mornings paper. Discussion is only on certain interesting subject matters. Nothing is discussed about what we might do for the day until after breakfast is over and the morning coffee is served.

This receipt is for the fresh breakfast salad.

Breakfast Salad.

A simply refreshing, but interesting combination of ingredients.

Ingredients:

Oranges

Pears

Apples

Mixed Berries

Apricots

Sultanas

Raisins

Mixed Nuts (unsalted)

Dried Fruits

Fresh chilled iceberg lettuce

Directions:

The fruit that is to be used must be only fresh. Peel and segment the oranges, get rid of the pith (that's the white stuff under the skin) and any seeds. If you really want to get fancy and fiddly you could remove the membrane from the segments as you remove them. Peel and deseed the pears (a melon-baller works wonders here), apples and then dice to roughly bite size pieces. Peel and remove the stone in the apricots, then dice them the same as the pears and apples. If you have them fresh apricots, bananas and grapes can be also used. You may want to soak the sultanas, raisins and any dried fruits before use (overnight is a good method).

In a bowl arrange a single layer of the chilled lettuce leaves, on to this spoon the fruits so that the colours are all mixed and have an interesting look about them. Then sprinkle the mixed nuts over the top.

Serve chilled or at room temperature.

If you like you could serve it with a side serving of fresh homemade plain yoghurt or drizzle the yoghurt over the salad.

Variety is the key to this dish, so just add to it any type and combination of fruits you like.

Sometimes I will put sticks of celery around the bowl, under the lettuce leaves for an added touch. These I have arranged in a crown like pattern.

Well after a bit more of a chat, another coffee and the securing of another morning's ritual with friends, I stepped out into the warmth of the day with a sweet angel on my arm. Later when out walking along the beach with my partner, I think about how much chefs are respected in this world and how much of a gypsy lifestyle we all live.

Where will I be tomorrow, I don't know somewhere out there cooking for someone who needs it I guess, maybe I'll still be looking for that perfect dish. Who knows, because I don't?

But at least I know that when I return home I will always have a sweet angel who at least understands in her own little way.