PORK & SAGE SALAD WITH POTATO CROUTONS

This warm salad is a whole meal and it doesn't take long to cook. It is delicious and easy to make. You can vary it and use lamb instead. See below under variations.

INGREDIENTS
12 chat potatoes, boiled until just cooked, cooled
12 vine ripened cherry tomatoes
4 Tbsp sage leaves, fried
1 pork fillet (500g)
200g thin green beans, blanched
125g spinach and rocket leaves
1/2 cup (125ml) extra virgin olive oil
3 Tbsp red wine or champagne vinegar
1 tsp Dijon mustard
1 garlic clove, crushed
sea salt and freshly ground black pepper

METHOD
Boil the potatoes, blanch the beans and fry the sage. Reserve.
Preheat the oven to 200°C.
Cut the fillet in half and season with salt and pepper. Put a bit of oil in a frypan and seal the pork fillet until brown on all sides.

Using your hands, roughly break the potatoes into bite-sized pieces. Toss with a tablespoon of the olive oil, place on a baking tray with the pork and bake for about 10 minutes.
Add the cherry tomatoes and cook for a further 5 minutes.

To make the dressing, put the remaining oil, the vinegar, mustard and garlic in a jar. Add salt and pepper. Shake until combined.

Slice the pork fillet thinly.

In a large bowl (or 4 individual plates), toss the pork with the green beans, potatoes and leaves. Add the tomatoes and drizzle with the dressing. Serve immediately.

Serves 4.

VARIATION
Lamb and mint salad
Use 2 x 225g lamb backstraps and 4 Tbsp mint leaves instead of the pork and sage.
Follow steps above but do not put the lamb in the oven. After you have baked the potatoes and tomatoes, heat some oil in a non-stick frypan over a high heat. Season the lamb with salt and pepper and seal on all sides in the frypan. Reduce the heat to medium and cook for a further 2-3 minutes. The lamb should be just cooked but still rare inside. Set aside to rest before slicing it thinly.
To make the dressing, finely chop half of the mint and put on a glass jar together with the oil and vinegar. Season with salt and pepper. (Do not use mustard or garlic with this dressing!)
Add the remaining mint leaves to the salad.