Crunchy carrot & kohlrabi salad

Simple and very effective! I love this salad.

It’s the perfect side dish: crunchy, fresh, and tastier than the sum of its parts - plus it goes with everything! It’s delicious with grilled chicken, fish, halloumi, or spicy tofu. I’ve just topped with spring onion, but you can also add raisins, grated apple, pumpkin or sunflower seeds, toasted nuts, or crumbled feta.

If you can’t get hold of kohlrabi, sub with finely chopped cabbage, broccoli, or radishes - or any combination. The more, the merrier where raw veggies are concerned in this salad.

But let’s get into the nutrition for a minute before the instructions:

Carrots are an excellent source of beta-carotene, a type of vitamin A that gives them their vibrant orange colour, and is crucial for vision, immune function, and skin health. Carrots also contain vitamin K1, essential for blood clotting; vitamin B6, which supports a healthy metabolism; and manganese, which is important for bone health and metabolism.

Beta-carotene, along with alpha-carotene and lutein in carrots, are antioxidants; these compounds help protect cells from free radicals. Free radicals are unstable molecules that can damage cells and are associated with inflammation, and an increased risk of developing heart disease, and certain cancers.

Like kohlrabi, carrots are a good source of dietary fibre, which aids digestion, promotes feelings of fullness, and may help regulate blood sugar levels and lower cholesterol. Both veggies are good sources of potassium, which helps regulate blood pressure and supports heart health and muscle function.

Kohlrabi belongs to the cabbage family and is high in vitamin C, an important antioxidant that supports the immune system, promotes skin health, and aids in wound healing. One cup of raw kohlrabi contains over 90% of an adult's recommended daily vitamin C intake!

Kohlrabi also contains vitamin B6, which plays a key role in metabolism and brain function, and folate, which is important for cell division and the production of DNA.

And now, how to make this delicious salad….

ingredients

Serves 2 generous portions or 4 as a side dish

• 2 carrots, unpeeled but washed

• 1 kohlrabi

• 2 tbsp extra virgin olive oil

• 1 tbsp apple cider vinegar (or wine vinegar)

• 1 tsp wholegrain mustard

• Good pinch of sea salt

• 1 spring onion, sliced finely

method

• Chop the ends of the carrots and grate.

• Chop the ends and leaves off the kohlrabi, peel them, and then grate them. I just peeled the rough bits and left the rest of the skin on.

• Mix the dressing: olive oil, vinegar, mustard and salt.

• Mix the vegetables on a serving plate, plus raisins if you’re using them.

• Pour over the dressing and combine well.

• Top with spring onion and any nuts, seeds, or cheese that you’re using - walnuts would be great with apples and raisins.

Crunchy rainbow slaw with toasted seeds

So simple, so tasty and so good for you! Love this slaw; it’s a great side dish to eat with winter casseroles or chilli as a nice crunchy fresh element on the plate or with BBQed veggies, fish or meat in the summer.
There’s a little bit of chopping if you’re using a knife, but if you have a spiraliser, or a food processor then we’re talking seconds!
I’ve measured the veggies in terms of peeled/prepped weight, so you can pick and choose the ones you prefer. I would always use a much smaller proportion of red onion though as it’s obviously a bit pokey!

I think this combination works really well though as there’s a nice colour and flavour range, but feel free to remix!

Ingredients

Serves 6

• 60g sunflower / pumpkin seeds

• 480g white/red cabbage, carrots, spinach, red onion

• 60ml extra virgin olive oil

• 30ml red wine vinegar

• 1½ tsp honey or maple

• Pinch of salt

Method

• Preheat the oven to 180c. Spread the seeds on a baking tray and toast for 6 minutes.

• Peel/prep and weigh the veggies, then shred using a food processor or spiraliser (I used the straight shredder and the 5mm for the carrots).

• Mix the oil, vinegar, honey and salt, giving them a good shake in a dressing shaker or lidded jar.

• Put the veggies in a bowl and pour over the dressing gradually, mixing and adding the seeds as you go along. Save a few seeds to sprinkle over the top.

• If you’re making ahead then store the veggies, dressing and seeds separately. The veggies keep best in an airtight bag and will last 2-3 days.
  

Winter salad with Stilton & pecans

I know I’m a little early with a Winter salad as we’re not quite there yet, but I wanted to share this recipe that I made for my December supper club guests last year. I just remade it for lunch today to double check the recipe and I ploughed through both plates I was enjoying it that much!

Although the recipe has Stilton in, you could easily make a plant-based version of this salad as the dressing is vegan; to make it creamy I’ve used silken tofu rather than egg yolk or a cow’s milk product. I actually find it a little less sickly than a regular ‘mayo’ style dressing as it’s lower in fat. Obviously you’d need to sub the Stilton and I would either add extra pecans, toasted cashews or use a vegan cheese.

• *A note about the dressing: the recipe makes double the amount you need for this salad. The reason I have done this is that silken tofu is usually sold in boxes weighing 300-350g, so I created a recipe to use it all up rather than leaving half a packet to go off in the fridge! I really like silken tofu in ramen or miso soup, but I don’t make them that regularly, so rather than risk wasting the other half, I prefer to make a big tub of dressing that can be used with other things. It lasts a good 10 days (if not longer). Just think of it as of vegan mayo and use it in place of ‘normal’.

Ingredients

Serves 4 as a starter or side

• 1/2 sweetheart cabbage

• 50g sprouts

• 50g curly kale

• 15g parsley, roughly chopped

• A good pinch of sea salt

• 70g stilton or gorgonzola, crumbled or chopped in 1cm cubes

• 45g pecans

• I small apple, chopped in 1cm cubes

Dressing

• I packet of silken tofu (300-350g)

• 140ml olive oil

• 1 small garlic clove 

• 1 tsp dijon mustard

• 2.5 tbsp cider or white wine vinegar

• 3 tbsp lemon juice (approx 1.5 lemons)

• 1/2 tsp table salt

Method

• Preheat the oven to 120ºc.

• Spread the pecans on a baking tray and toast for about 6-8 minutes - keep an eye on them, I’ve lost count of the amount of nuts I’ve burnt. (That sounds a bit wrong now I’ve written it down.)

• Finely shred the cabbage and sprouts using a sharp knife, mandolin or a food processor (slicing attachment).

• Cut the tough stems from the kale and chop the leaves finely; mix all the vegetables and parsley in a large bowl with a good pinch of sea salt.

• Make the dressing by blending all the ingredients in a food processor until creamy. Depending on the weight of your silken tofu you might need to add a little extra oil/vinegar to loosen the mix. The texture should be thick, but just pourable, like a slightly runny mayo.

• Break the cooled pecans into small pieces and add to the vegetables reserving about 1/3 for topping the salad.

• Same for the cheese, add to the bowl and keep a 1/3 to one side.

• Lastly chop the apple into 1cm cubes, add to the bowl and mix well, before pouring in 160ml of the dressing.

• Stir well to coat and then serve, topping each plate with extra stilton and nuts.

This is how thin I like the veggies to be shredded

Tip

• If you want to prep this ahead, then get all the components ready and keep them in separate air tight boxes; mix just before serving. The apple will need a squeeze of lemon to prevent it from oxidising and going brown, or you can chop at the last minute.

• Keeping the various ingredients separate until serving is a trick I use for lots of salads. This means I can get organised earlier in the day and I don’t have much to do when friends arrive for dinner. It also works well to keep a salad fresh if you’ve prepped a batch for lunches during the week.

Vegan slaw

I love this vegan mayo as it tastes so much lighter than regular. You can use any combination of veggies, these are just the ones I happened to have in my fridge. The mayo is simple to make, but you’ll need to get some silken tofu, hopefully you’ll have the rest in your cupboard, but if not everything else is pretty easy to pick up. If you’d prefer to go classic you could mix regular mayo with a bit of mustard, grated garlic and vinegar (any kind you have) or lemon juice to let it down a bit.

As you’ll see from the pictures below we had our slaw with Spanish chickpea stew (recipe coming soon) and home made tortilla chips, t’was a nice summer plate.

Ingredients

Serves 4

• 1/4 red cabbage

• 1/4 cauliflower

• 1/2 red pepper

• 1/4 green pepper

• 1/4 red onion

• 1/4 white cabbage)

• A couple of handfuls of peas and edamame

Method

• Chop the cabbage, peppers and red onion finely using a food processor, mandolin or knife.

Vegan mayo

Ingredients

• 350g silken tofu 

• 140ml olive oil

• 1 small clove garlic 

• 1 tbsp dijon mustard

• 3 tbsp cider or white wine vinegar

• 3 tbsp lemon juice 

• 1/2 tsp table salt

Method

Add to a small processor and blitz. Makes about 550ml and lasts for for 7 days in the fridge.

Spicy red cabbage slaw

I made this the other night to go with some homemade fish fingers and minted new potatoes. The slaw brought a chilli kick to the plate and breathed new life into this classic combo. 
This is a very simple way to make red cabbage incredibly tasty and also if you double the quantity, you can use it in lunchtime sandwiches and salads for a week! 
One of our favourites was grilled halloumi, roasted red pepper, a thin spread of hummus and slaw on fresh, warmed ciabatta bread – really delicious. 
I would also pair this slaw with roast, or grilled chicken, or fish to make a summer-style roast dinner with other salads.
Using a food processor will save a lot of time making this dish if you have one, but if not you can finely chop the cabbage and onion by hand, then grate the carrot. 

Ingredients

Serves 6-8 as a side dish

• 1 red cabbage

• 3 carrots

• 1 white, or red onion

• 2cm of fresh ginger, finely grated

• Fresh green chilli

• 5 tbsp mayonnaise (homemade or a good quality brand)

• 1 tbsp white wine vinegar

• Handful of coriander

• Salt & pepper

Method

• First blitz the red cabbage, carrot and onion in the blender. 

• Grate the ginger using a micro plane/ parmesan grater, if you don’t have one you can always chop very finely along with the chilli.

• Put the mayonnaise in a small bowl and mix in the white wine vinegar, then add the ginger, chilli, seasoning  and mix.

• Finally mix the mayonnaise into the cabbage and there you have your amazing zingy side dish that will liven up any plate.