Simply delicious to kickstart your year …
I am not a post-Christmas dieter – never have been, never will be – and I’m certainly not about to tell anyone they need a detox. But there is something about January that nudges all of us towards food that feels a little lighter. I know what you’re thinking: Salads, in January. How brave. How groundbreaking. How very 2000s health-blog of me. But these winter salads are different. They’re not limp leaves and sad cherry tomatoes; they’re bowls of delicious ingredients that just happen to include a bit of leaf.
Winter salad leaves come into their own at this time of year: radicchio, little gem, frisée, endive, even a handful of rocket, are all a bit more robust and more filling than a summer butterhead. I will serve a salad with almost anything, whatever the season. A creamy cauliflower cheese is always better when it has something sharp and crunchy alongside it, say, apple and winter leaf salad with a mustardy dressing to cut through the richness.
My current favourite is a sort of green-goddess-meets-Caesar situation: blitz an avocado with natural yoghurt, mustard, herbs (chives, parsley, basil), lemon juice and plenty of good extra virgin olive oil until silky. Toss with shredded roast chicken, massaged kale (see opposite), romaine or cos lettuce, grated Parmesan and croutons. It’s filling, crunchy, delicious and absolutely not the kind of sad January salad anyone dreads. @kittycoles
SQUASH, FETA AND PINE NUT SALAD
Ingredients
1 medium butternut squash or small pumpkin
2 tbsp olive oil
Salt and black pepper
100g kale or cavolo nero
Winter salad leaves (radicchio, little gem, frisée, rocket)
A few chunks of feta
40g pine nuts
30g butter
Around 10 sage leaves
A pinch of chilli flakes
1/2 lemon
Method
1. Preheat the oven to 200°C fan. Chop the squash into large 5cm chunks. Add to a low-sided baking tray with the olive oil and a generous pinch of salt, ensuring they are evenly coated. Roast for 40 minutes until soft and deeply golden at the edges.
2. Tear the kale leaves into bite-size pieces. Add to a bowl with 1 tbsp olive oil and a pinch of salt, then massage the leaves with your hands until they look glossy and are slightly softened. Scatter the kale over the roasted squash and return to the oven for about 5 minutes, until the edges crisp slightly and the rest is still bright green.
3. Toast the pine nuts in a small saucepan over medium heat for 2 minutes until lightly golden. Add the butter, let it melt and foam, then drop in the sage. Turn off heat and squeeze in lemon juice.
4. Arrange the roasted squash on plates with the warm kale and a handful of seasonal salad leaves for freshness and crunch. Crumble over the feta, then spoon over the pine-nut-sage butter. Finish with black pepper and a pinch of chilli flakes.