The Ultimate Summer Party + Six new summer salads from Jamie Oliver HQ #summersalads
Summer Salads on JamieOliver.comÂ
It’s not every day that you get to take a look behind the scenes of a set-up that you hugely respect and admire. So this week’s invitation from the team behind JamieOliver.com (the official website for Jamie’s recipes, books and TV shows) to an evening of #summersalads at Jamie Oliver HQ was really quite a special treat. If you haven’t explored the JamieOliver.com site recently, you’ll find, as I regularly do, that it’s a great source of recipe ideas for any occasion. The editorial team work very closely with Jamie and the food team to constantly find new ways to inspire. Fresh, seasonal produce is always at the forefront of recipe development and, as with all things Jamie Oliver-led, there’s a big emphasis on the dishes being achievable, simple to make and super tasty.
The food team have recently moved to a new home – a fantastic new space in London, full of light, food props and a mezzanine area perfect for holding very important meetings (and parties!)
For the #summersalads party, Peter, Jamie’s gardener was there to talk us through some of the produce from Jamie’s garden – much of it inspiring the summer salads that we tasted. Pete told me that whatever Jamie and the family don’t eat is sent straight to Fifteen to create their daily specials.
On arrival, we were welcomed with a huge array of fresh crudités, including rainbow carrots, chicory leaves, radishes, artisan bread, the smoothest and most wonderful hummus any of us had ever tasted and a fresh and lovely pea, mint and feta dip (you can find a similar recipe here).
The team had also mixed up some batches of summer cocktail recipes, which have also very recently been featured on Drinks Tube. I can personally endorse the Negroni cocktail and attest that it packed quite a punch!
Pete Wrapson @peterwrapson, my take away box and Jamie @JamieOliver
Jamie also stopped by to have a chat with us all. He told us that he was incredibly excited about the food team’s new home and that it is quite a challenge to find space for his growing teams!
Beautiful edible flowers by @greensofdevon
Now that the sunshine seems here to stay, for the ultimate summer party, why not invite your friends over and chose a few of these fantastic recipes to make at home?
Cocktails
Summer Fruit Punch – [Get the recipe here] – non-alcoholic with no added sugar (above)
Summer Cup – [Get the recipe here] – a pitcher of vodka, vermouth, ginger ale, cucumber and fresh fruit inspired by the tennis season
Negroni – [Get the recipe here] – a batch-made Italian cocktail with gin and bitters (strong!!)
Flavoured Water – simply made with fresh fruit, use any fruit that you have (try strawberries, slices of orange and fresh mint)
Six New Summer Salads (as featured on JamieOliver.com)
Click on the title of the salad for the recipe…
Prawn and Papaya Salad (GF,DF) – my favourite of the evening by far. If you can’t find papaya, use white cabbage. I think ‘spiralized’ courgette would be lovely, too.
Cracking Cobb Salad – made with roast chicken, pancetta, boiled eggs and a blue cheese dressing
Tasty tabbouleh salad (V, VG, DF) – Middle-Eastern inspired, bursting with colour and flavour, with bulgar wheat, pistachio and pomegranate
Cypriot-style potato salad (DF, V, VG, GF) – with waxy new potatoes, olives, capers and fresh coriander
Superfood salad (GF, V) – with quinoa and roasted sweet potato – this one was a revelation and it is very easy to throw together for a crowd
Waldorf Salad (V) with roasted grapes and walnuts (delicious!) and  a light yoghurt dressing
GF = Gluten Free DF = Dairy Free V = Vegetarian VG = Vegan
To Finish
The food team presented a classic Eton Mess on a huge board with little mini-meringues, bowls of fresh fruit, including strawberries, raspberries and blueberries and a big bowl of vanilla-spiked whipped cream and Greek yoghurt so that everyone could help themselves. I’ll definitely be making this for the summer and you could also take all of these ingredients separately to a picnic.
So there you have it – hopefully this will inspire you to host a summer salads party of your own!
Thank You
With special thanks to the JamieOliver.com team, especially Abby, Merlin and Subi
- @jamieoliver.com
- @jamieoliver
The tables were decorated with some stunning flowers from London-based Augustus Bloom @augustus_bloom
Follow some of our photos of the evening as shared on Instagram or search the hashtag #summersalads
- @clerkenwekkboyec1
- @mondomulia
- @issycroker
- @charlottehuco
- @mind_body_bowl
- @renbehan
- @allthingsmeaty
- @upallhoursphotos
- @heartdrive
- @rawveganblonde
- @mummyicancook – a special shout of to Shu Han Lee who has been an online friend and follower of my blog and who is writing her own book with Penguin!
Disclosure: I was a guest of the JamieOliver.com food & editorial teams. All opinions are my own and the decision to write about the evening for my own blog was my own. I am also a freelance contributor to the ‘News and Features’ section of the JamieOliver.com site.Â
 Photo taken by JamieOliver.com
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Oooh, imagine being let loose with all those props! Glad you had fun Ren 🙂
Janie x
How lovely does this party look and the food looks stunning and is styled all so beautifully. I love the colours and all of the edible flowers. It makes me want to pant loads of them in my garden. My all time favourite drink is Campari so I will be testing out that Negroni recipe!
I’m definitely going to be growing edible flowers now when I finally get my garden sorted. My recent trip to France involved some foraging for edible flowers too – now I keep picking mallow, which grows ALL round London. That does sound like a great day – and some lovely salad ideas too!
Good luck with your garden, Fiona, I hope it brings you much joy. Sadly I am not very green-fingered but I have started to try! Mallow is wonderful, I too went on a foraging walk once around St Albans!
Love all the flowers, both ornamental and edible. Sounds like a really fun evening.
All the flowers were beautiful – very inspiring and simple to recreate.
What an awesome party! Looked great. I saw you opposite JO on instagram and swooned. AND getting a fab nostalgic Waldorf salad – I love those!
Thanks Katherine – it was a lovely evening. Took me the rest of the week to come back to reality 🙂
Gorgeous pictures of a lovely event – and have bookmarked a bunch of those recipes to try soon!
Thanks Mardi, some great summer recipes to try! See you next week x
What a fantastic spread. Love the Eton Mess. Do say Hi to the lovely Merlin. And Giulia
Yes lovely Merlin, Hope to see you soon, Sally!
Shucks – you two!
Ahahah :-))
How exciting Ren and what loevly photos. A bevy of salad recipes to work my way through. A very enjoyable post.
Or even lovely!
Thanks Jac – definitely some you’d like!
Yes lots of veggie options, too 🙂
You’re right, Jamie’s website always has so many great recipes. Looks like a really fun event! I’ve never tried any edible flowers- I always imagine they’ll taste very bitter but I guess not!
Thanks Becca!Edible flowers are so lovely – I’ve even seen some bagged salads with a few thrown in, but they are easy to grow at home too.