’Tis the season of the crisp winter salad. Ice-white fennel, thinly sliced and tossed with peppery oil, clementine juice and whole, flat parsley leaves; white cabbage shredded with russet apples and young walnuts, dressed with walnut oil and clear honey; maincrop carrots with pomegranate seeds and mint. Salads that snap and crackle with crisp winter vegetables and fruit.
Brussels sprouts have already had quite a few outings in the salad bowl this winter. Raw and shredded, they have been tossed with a mayonnaise-based dressing made lighter with yogurt, then rippled through with Stilton and poppy seeds. Lightly steamed, they were a surprising hit when cut into wedges and mixed with a dressing of groundnut, walnut oils, grain mustard, flat parsley, toasted pecan nuts and curls of crisp, smoked bacon.
Red cabbage, always a favourite for me at this time of year, is pretty fine raw, but I like it better when it has been given an hour or so in an acidic mixture of wine vinegar and citrus juices. The colours brighten, the texture relaxes but remains crisp and the lemon and orange juices take away any overly cabbage notes.
Salads rarely constitute a meal at this time of year. I will often add sliced chicken breast that I have roasted with thyme, garlic and lemon, or perhaps a duck leg, sautéed and shredded. Smoked fish is smashing with raw fennel and cabbage. Smoked mackerel with thinly sliced fennel, lemon and russet apple; smoked oysters tossed with steamed and sliced Jerusalem artichokes and chopped hazelnuts or smoked eel, pickled carrot and rashers of smoked bacon cooked so crisp they shatter like ice.
Beetroot is a good one for adding sweet, earthy notes as well as crispness, but it essential to add any slices or curls at the last minute. No one wants a Barbie-pink salad. I do sometimes bake my beets first, peeling and cutting the ruby globes into wedges, then folding them into the other ingredients still warm from the oven.
This week I marinated a pork chop in a Southeast Asian mix of soy, sake and rice vinegar before grilling and tossing it with raw brussels sprouts and water chestnuts. The result: a scrunchy, hearty, hot and cold salad for a winter’s day, so good it might even come out on Christmas day.
Brussels sprouts, water chestnuts, pork and pak choi
If you prefer, use the recipe with white cabbage instead of the brussels sprouts.
Serves 3-4
For the marinade:
pork chops 2, medium sized
sake 3 tbsp
light soy sauce 3 tbsp
groundnut oil 2 tbsp
rice-wine vinegar 1 tbsp
For the salad:
water chestnuts a 225g can
brussels sprouts 400g
spring onions 2
chillies – small, hot 2
pak choi 1 head, shredded
sesame seeds 1 tbsp
Put the sake into a shallow dish, add the soy sauce, the groundnut oil and the vinegar, then place the chops in the marinade and leave for an hour in a cool place, turning from time to time.
Drain the water chestnuts, then slice each one in half. Finely chop the spring onions, discarding the very darkest of the green leaves if they are tough.
Finely slice the chillies then add them, with the seeds if you wish, to the onions and water chestnuts.
Trim the brussels sprouts of any damaged outer leaves, then shred the sprouts finely into slices about the width of a pound coin. Add them to the chillies and onions. Roughly slice the head of pak choi and add to the rest of the salad.
Remove the chops from their marinade, then cook under a preheated grill till the outside is nicely browned. Remove from the heat and leave to rest. Chop the sesame seeds finely.
Warm the marinade in a small pan. Slice the pork into thick strips and add to the brussels sprouts and spring onions. Pour the marinade over the salad, then toss gently. Scatter with the chopped sesame seeds and serve.
Red cabbage with fennel and carrot
Clean, crisp flavours here. The perfect winter salad to eat before or after a pork or game roast.
Serves 2-3
red cabbage half a medium one
carrots 100g, skinny
fennel 1
skinned almonds 100g, fried and tossed with salt
black grapes 120g
radish sprouts a handful
For the marinade:
white-wine vinegar 100ml
ginger 25g
For the dressing:
egg yolk 1
Dijon 1 tbsp
olive oil 5 tbsp
Finely shred the leaves of the red cabbage, discarding the tough bits of stalk. Slice the carrots finely lengthways and toss with the cabbage.
Peel the ginger then grate it very finely, almost to a purée, then stir it into the wine vinegar. Pour over the vegetables, toss them gently then put them to one side, covered, for a good hour. Toss them occasionally to keep the vegetables wet with marinade.
Halve the head of fennel, then slice each half thinly and add it to the vinegared carrot and cabbage. Halve and seed the grapes.
Put the egg yolk in a bowl, stir in the mustard and a pinch of salt, beat in the olive oil. Pour the dressing into the red cabbage and carrot, then add the grapes, almonds and radish sprouts.
Email Nigel at nigel.slater@observer.co.uk. Follow Nigel on Twitter @NigelSlater
