I have to admit that the words pie and salad are not often paired in this house. Pie and mash, yes regularly. Pie and steamed veggies even. Salad, flowers and pies, not really. But thanks to some totally delicious and very summery pies that I was sent recently by Higgidy and a selection of salad seedlings from Sarah Raven we’ve been turned.
Imaginative fillings such as Sweet Potato & Feta with pumpkin seeds, Chicken & Smoky Spanish Chorizo Pie had something to do with it. Then there’s the fact that the side dish was very handily growing just by the back door.
The mizuna, red mustard, rocket and red & green lettuce seedlings were sent to me by Sarah Raven back in April, with fab seed markers and a feed to encourage healthy growth. The idea was that I would grow my own side salads to accompany the pies that would follow in June.
Some of the seedlings were planted in a little area next to my strawberry bed, but I have to admit that the ones that fared best were planted in a pot right next to the back door. Sheltered, against a sunny wall and very handy for watering they also provided handy leaves for lunchtime sandwiches before the arrival of pies.
I don’t normally buy pies, although I’m very partial to a home-made chicken and mushroom, buffalo and kidney or wild greens and ricotta version. As these turned up when we were just back from holiday and I had lots of work to catch up on, they were particularly welcome.
Pies that taste like properly handmade pies too, but with lovely fillings I hadn’t thought of. As well as including classics such as the Little Smoked Bacon & Cheddar Quiche (Ruby’s favourite).
There are some great, imaginative ideas for side dishes both on the pie boxes (Warm White Bean Salad to go with the Chicken & Spanish Chorizo Pie, Moroccan spiced Carrot & Orange for the Sweet Potato & Feta) and on the Higgidy web-site. Because I was looking forward to an easy supper, and I returned from holiday to a garden full of edible flowers, I popped outside and then tossed the following ingredients together for this salad to enjoy with my pies:
Garden Salad with Edible Flowers
A few handfuls of mizuna, rocket, red mustard, lettuce (grown from my Sarah Raven seedlings)
Purple & red radish sliced
A handful of flat leaf parsley tips
A few fennel fronds & pea-tips
Salad Burnet (for a cucumber-ish flavour)
A handful of edible flowers – borage, violets, chop suey green flowers, chive flowers, calendula)
1 tablespoon cider vinegar
4 tablespoons local rapeseed oil
A little sea-salt
Very glad I have a few pies still in the freezer – the first new potatoes are nearly ready and I’m thinking already of tossing a few with sorrel & butter to scoff with a Chicken & Chorizo pie.
With thanks to Higgidy and Sarah Raven for providing me with delicious pies and salad seedlings.
The back door plantings are usually the best… if only because they sit there demanding attention whenever they’re thirsty! I like your idea of adding edible flowers to the leaves – pretty and delicious.
Yes, back door planting is difficult to forget about isn’t it. Luckily though, the pigeons don’t seem to come near it though – unlike the rest of the garden!
Love edible flowers, they make a salad so pretty!
Definitely – not sure how much flavour there is in some of them, but they’re very easy on the eye!
Your salad looks too pretty to eat! I like to use edible flowers too, especially chives as they are so peppery.
Thanks Cathy & yes, I think the chive flowers are probably the tastiest of the lot.
That’s a beautiful salad, like a page from an Ottolenghi book 😉
Thanks! I do like the Ottolenghi comparison!
I have pie envy! Elinor x
They’re very tasty – and very easy for the lovely weather we’re having when spending too much time cooking doesn’t seem right.
The salad looks lovely, as do the pies. Particularly like the sound of chicken and chorizo
I think the chicken and chorizo is our favourite actually – nicely smoky flavour and lots of chicken.
I love your salad, it look so pretty. There is nothing better than home grown leaves. Bags of flavour and no pesticides! I have heard Higgidy pies are good, I haven’t tried them yet.
The pies are fab and definitely agree about the home-grown leaves – they’re one of the things I absolutely always grow, so tasty & it always seems so effortless both to grow them & to pop out of the back door to pick a few rather than heading to the shops.
I’ve seen these pies in Waitrose when in the UK – something else to look forward to in a couple of weeks time.
I’ve seen them in Waitrose too, I don’t think they were very expensive considering the quality either.
Pies sound delish, but how gorgeous are those salad leaves! I love that they were sent to you a few months earlier so you could grow your own pie accompaniment!
Thanks Celia & it’s a great idea isn’t it. Luckily (I think!) we had lots of rain at the right time to encourage plenty of lush growth.