Vibrant Winter Salad
Ingredients
- 30 g Curly Kale, de-stalked and cut into bite size pieces (30g nett/ 50g with stalks)
- 120 g Red Cabbage, sliced
- 1 pinch Salt
- 1 pinch Pepper (milled)
- 30 ml Olive Oil
- 300 g Butternut squash, halved, deseeded and sliced
- 1 small Raw beetroot, peeled and cut into matchsticks (80-100g)
- 1 small Orange, diced or segmented (100g)
- 1 T Pumpkin seeds (can be toasted as an option)
- 120 g Bread (2 thick slices)
- 1 T Fresh parsley, chopped
- 15 g Red pepper finely diced (one side of a pepper)
- 130 g Lettuce leaves washed (8-12 large leaves)
Instructions
- Kale salad – cut the kale leaves into bite size pieces and mix them in a bowl with the red cabbage, a sprinkle of salt and pepper and a tablespoon of oil. Macerate well with your fingers and leave to marinate
- Squash– heat a frying pan on medium and pour in 3 tablespoons of oil. Place the pieces of squash into the pan, season with salt and fry them, turning occasionally for 15-20 minutes. They are cooked when the flesh is fully soft. Take care they don’t burn because the sweetness in the squash can caramelize easily. When ready, if you want make quenelles, put the pieces on a board and pull the flesh away from the skin with a fork. Put the flesh in a bowl, mash it well with the fork and keep it warm. Alternatively just keep the wedges as they are. Or you can do both – see the photo!
- Beetroot salad – in a bowl mix the beetroot sticks, the orange pieces and all the orange juice, a bit of salt and the pumpkin seeds
- Cut the bread into rounds or quarters. Using the same squash pan, add a little more oil and fry them for about 2-3 minutes each side
Assembly
- On your serving plates or bowls put the lettuce. Then scatter the kale salad on the plates. Place the beetroot salad in a pile on the plate, but reserve the juice. Using 2 spoons make a quenelle with the butternut puree and put it on the plate. Sprinkle the red pepper and parsley all over. Put a tablespoon of olive oil into the reserved beetroot & orange juice, stir it up and pour it over as a dressing. Finally add the toasted croutons.
Optional
- You can also chop up some cucumber into this salad, or add some radishes. Chicory leaves would be a nice addition or even some shaved fennel. Some toasted hazelnuts or walnuts would also go very well.
