Sustainable Life: Three of the best winter salads
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Crispy, leafy green veggies are winter’s gift in the garden.
Sweet carrots, lush broccoli stems and cauliflowers are a feature of these winter salads.
They’re the harvest that gardeners have been dreaming about since those warm autumn days in March or April when seedlings were sewn into freshly dug veggie beds.
Canberra’s frosty climate increases the sweetness in our veggies—this is our bonus for enduring those nights that dipped below zero.
Chargrilled broccoli salad
Ingredients: 1kg of broccoli (two large heads), 4 tbsp olive oil, salt, cracked pepper, ¼ cup slithered almonds, 1 cup chopped mint, 3 tbsp lemon juice, ¼ tsp chilli flakes.
Break your broccoli into florets. Slice the large florets in half so they can cook evenly. Toss them in 2 tbsp of extra-virgin olive oil, salt and a generous dose of cracked pepper.
Chargrill your broccoli florets on a griddle pan till they are black in some places and lightly cooked through. If you’re feeling lazy, you can put all your broccoli on a large grill tray and grill it on high. Just make sure it doesn’t char too much.
Prepare ¼ cup of slivered almonds by lightly toasting them in a heavy-based saucepan.
Prepare your dressing by combining the remaining 2 tbsp of olive oil, lemon juice and chilli flakes.
To put your salad together, start with the broccoli in a shallow salad bowl. Toss through the mint, slithered almonds and dressing. Eat immediately while the broccoli is warm.
Carrot and lentil salad
Ingredients: 160g French-style lentils, 1 bay leaf, 2 red onions, 1.5 tbsps olive oil, 1.2kg carrots, 4 tbsp lemon juice, 4 tbsp tahini, 1 bunch of kale (about 12 stems) and 2 tsp sesame seeds.
In a pot, cover your lentils with about 2cm of water. Add a bay leaf. Bring to the boil and simmer for approximately 20 min, until the lentils are soft. Drain the lentils and you’ll have approximately 2 cups of cooked lentils.
Slice your red onion. Sauté on a medium heat in about 1 tbsp of olive oil. Stir until the onions are translucent, and then set them aside.
Slice your carrots into thick ‘sticks’ and sauté in about 0.5 tbsp of olive oil. Stir until the carrots are lightly cooked then set them aside.
Make the dressing by combining your lemon juice and tahini. Slowly add water to your lemon juice and tahini till the mixture is a runny consistency. Add salt and pepper to taste.
Bring your salad together. Roughly chop your kale and place on a large salad plate. Place the lentils, sautéed onions and carrots on top, and then gently combine. Drizzle your dressing over the salad and top with sesame seeds. Delicious!
Paprika cauliflower haloumi salad
Ingredients: 1 medium-sized cauliflower (around 800g), extra virgin olive oil, 1 tblsp sweet, smoked paprika, 180g haloumi cheese, a few handfuls of baby spinach, 2 tblsp lemon juice, salt and pepper.
Divide your cauliflower into florets and chop some in half so they can cook evenly. Place your cauliflower onto a grill tray. Drizzle with olive oil.
Sprinkle the paprika evenly across the cauliflower and toss through. Cook on high for 15 – 20 min. Turn each floret once. The top of the cauliflower should be slightly charred and cooked through.
Thinly slice your haloumi to approximately 0.5 cm thick. Heat up a heavy-based saucepan. Add a drizzle of olive oil to coat the bottom of the pan, and then add the haloumi.
Carefully watch as it cooks. Turn it over so both sides are evenly cooked. Remove from the pan and chop your cooked haloumi slices into 2cm x 0.5cm cubes.
Prepare your dressing. Combine the lemon juice with an equal amount of extra virgin olive oil. Add salt and a generous amount of cracked pepper to taste.
Place your baby spinach in the bottom of your salad bowl. Add your chargrilled cauliflower and then the haloumi. Drizzle your dressing on top. Serve warm.
