Artichoke, olive, caper, almond and tomato salad

‘A woman is like an artichoke, you must work hard to get to her heart.’

Inspector Jacques Clouseau in The Pink Panther (2006)

Artichokes are abundant in the Mediterranean and perfect for our Ibizan yoga retreats.
If you get the ones on jars they can in all honesty be pretty plain, but marinate them in your favourite herbs and vinegar and you’re in. Artichoke salad is the absolute shizzle-for-the-win in Spain. Perfect after a hot day by the pool. And if you’ve any artichokes left afterwards, artichokes lend themselves beautifully to potato mash, hash or bubble and squeak for the next day’s dinner.

Ingredients

400g artichoke in salted water
2 teaspoon finely chopped oregano or dried oregano will do
100ml red wine vinegar
sea salt
freshly cracked black pepper
3 ripe tomatoes
beta vulgaris sprouts for prettification
50g capers
50g olives
50g flaked almond
juice of 1 x lemon
olive oil

Method

Drain the artichokes and marinade in red wine vinegar, oregano, pepper, and a sprinkling of salt for at least 4 hours.
Roughly chop tomatoes and mix with olives and capers on the serving dish.
Place the marinated artichoke over the tomato and olive.
Toast the almonds and flake carefully over the top.
Scatter beta vulgaris sprouts over the salad.
Drizzle with the juice of a lemon, a pinch of sea salt and some olive oil to serve.

Enjoy this yummy and super handsome salad when the sun shines, when the kittens stretch lazily on the wicker chairs, the birds chirp from the hedgerows and Bill Withers knows it’s gonna be ‘a lovely day’.