Shaved Winter Salads

blood orange and fennel + a winter Waldorf

I love a roast vegetable as much as the next person but come this time of year I’m yearning for something fresh. Summery salads of juicy ripe tomatoes are at least four months away so this is a time to embrace your winter veg. Bring on the cabbages!

However I just can’t work up any excitement for chomping through huge chunks of tough stems or roots, regardless of how good for me they might be. They’re too dense and frankly, it’s just too much chewing! If I’m going to eat something that isn’t a potato I don’t want it to feel like an absolute chore.

But.. I’ve found a solution for wrangling sturdy winter staples into something more palatable: you want to shave them into mere wisps. This approach not only improves their ability to soak up flavour, but (crucially) drastically reduces your chewing time.

Even if you don’t fancy either of the recipes below you can still utilise this method and feel lovely and smug about enjoying eating some raw veg. In February! Even a sad old chunk of cabbage can be totally transformed by slicing it into a fluffy mountain of thin ribbons and liberally covering it in your favourite dressing. (Or when I’m feeling especially lazy Bowl Dressing: glug olive oil, lemon juice/red wine vinegar and good pinch of salt into the bowl and give a really good mix - voila.)

My weapon of choice, to take these vegetables to task, is a mandolin. If you already have one you’ll be well acquainted with the joy of quickly shredding an ingredient into wafer thin slices. Unlike a lot of kitchen equipment and gadgets it’s economical on space, easy to clean and quick to use.

I use this one, which is fully adjustable to any thickness, but Oxo also do a great option that also offers 3 different slicing settings. Amazon has a cheaper one, for £8.99 that I haven’t personally tried but has good reviews.

If you don’t have a mandolin you can either slice everything very thinly with a sharp knife, or for the fennel you can use a vegetable peeler to make long thin strips (surprisingly quick and easy so long as you have a good peeler) and for the cabbage you could use the slicer setting in your food processor, if you have one. I’m not going to suggest you shave a cabbage down with a peeler unless you really enjoy repetitive tasks.

If you do decide to invest in a mandolin I have only one other word of advice, and I’m sure you know what I’m going to say here but for the love of god PLEASE WATCH YOUR FINGERS. Everyone seems to have a finger slicing story about a mandolin and I won’t go into exact details. But safe to say the ring finger on my right hand has never fully recovered, and nor have I, after I had to locate and remove the tip of it from a pile of potatoes. Yes I did give them a rinse and then use them to make a dauphinoise once I was bandaged up. Waste not etc.

Consider yourself warned but definitely don’t let that put you off. Just use the safety guard like a sensible person and/or slow down when you get close to the end.

The following two recipes are bright in colour and flavour, one zesty, one creamy, both worth making the effort for. The Waldorf keeps very well if you have leftovers but the fennel only a day or so.

Fennel + Blood Orange Salad

By all means use regular oranges if blood oranges aren’t an option for any reason. Ditto you could also use a white cabbage if you don’t like fennel but like the idea of this salad.

I realise segmenting oranges might not be for everyone, although I do urge you to give it a try! Here’s a how-to video. If it’s not for you then slice to peel each whole orange and then cut the orange into rounds to give you slices instead.

Ingredients:

• 1 fennel bulb

• 5-6 blood oranges (or 4 large oranges)

• 3 tbsp olive oil

• 1 tbsp white wine vinegar or cider vinegar

• 1 tbsp orange juice (reserved from segmenting the oranges)

• Salt

Method:

1. Start by segmenting your oranges. Cut a slice off from the top and the bottom of the orange, deep enough so that you are into the flesh of the orange. Standing the orange on one of these flat ends, take your knife and slice off a strip of peel, working from the top to the bottom of the orange. Continue until you remove all the skin and pith turning the orange over if needed to reach the bottom section. Then gently cut along each membrane to release each segment and place in a bowl.

2. Squeeze the remaining membrane 'cores' of the oranges in your hand over a small bowl to extract a little juice. Set aside.

3. Trim the fennel bulb and remove any fronds (the feathery green bits on the top). Save some of the fronds for decoration. Thinly mandolin or slice the fennel and place into the bowl with the orange segments.

4. In a small bowl briskly whisk together the orange juice, olive oil and the white wine vinegar with a large pinch of salt.

5. Pour the dressing over the fennel and orange and mix well to combine. Top with the reserved fronds.

Winter Waldorf Salad

I love a Waldorf, it hits all the right crunchy, creamy, savoury, sweet notes, and each bite is a mish-mash of flavours. You can use a white cabbage if you don’t have a red, and if you prefer a richer dressing you can skip the yogurt and use double the mayo quantities instead.

Ingredients:

• 50g walnut pieces

• 1/2 small red cabbage

• 2 stems of celery

• 50g raisins or sultanas

• 1 apple - I used a Braeburn for extra crunch

• 6 tbsp vegan mayo

• 1 tbsp lemon juice

• 1 tbsp dijon mustard

• 1/2 tsp salt

• Pinch of black pepper

Method:

1. Toast the walnuts by placing them on a baking tray under the grill for a few minutes. Keep an eye on them to make sure they don't burn, and give them a turn to try to toast all sides. Leave to cool and get on with prepping your veg.

2. Slice (or mandolin) the red cabbage very thinly and place into a large bowl

3. Next thinly slice the celery, I opt for cutting horizontally down the stem which gives you little half moon shapes, and also do this on the mandolin, so quick!

4. Next cut the apple into small dice. Add the celery and apple to the bowl along with the raisins and half the walnuts.

5. In a small jug or bowl mix together the mayo, lemon juice, dijon mustard, salt and pepper.

6. Pour the dressing over the salad in the bowl and give everything a really good mix. As you mix you will see the dressing begin to turn pink from the cabbage. Have a taste and adjust the seasoning if needed.

7. Scatter the remaining walnut pieces over the top and serve immediately.

I hope you feel encouraged to take down some winter veg and hack it into pieces. Or perhaps buy a mandolin at the very least!