Nikita’s Tip of the Season: Salads

bY nIKITA gORDON, cHEF MANAGER AT COOK! with the vegetarian society

Salads can be amazing – cold salads, warm salads, chopped salads, rough and ready salads… They come in all shapes, sizes, flavour combinations and textures. I want to share a few of my favourite salad ingredients and combinations with you.

The first of my salad hacks is to add more cabbage. Cabbage seems to be everywhere at the moment, and rightly so! Often under-used but it’s so tasty and versatile. Sweetheart cabbage is in season through summer and early autumn in the UK. It can be easily transformed into a delicious cabbage salad. Start off by slicing your cabbage into quarters, then grab a griddle pan or frying pan and pop it on a high heat. Brush your cabbage quarters with oil and pop them into the smoking hot pan to char for 5 minutes. Charring the cabbage gives it a really savoury flavour full of umami. While the cabbage is charring, make a simple dressing. Combine 2 parts oil (use what you have at hand – I use a good quality rapeseed oil) and 1 part red wine vinegar. Add a squeeze of lemon juice and season to taste. Shake it all up with chopped soft fresh herbs. Parsley or basil work really well here. Once the cabbage is good and charred, pop the wedges onto a nice plate, drizzle with your dressing, crumble on a bit of vegetarian or vegan feta cheese, a few twists of black pepper and you’re good to go. A delicious warm charred cabbage salad in 10 minutes!

Next up are spring onions – these are always in my fridge. Such a great all-rounder. Perfect for hot dishes and cold salads. To keep your spring onions super crunchy in salads, slice them into thin strips and plunge into ice cold water for 10 minutes. Drain them thoroughly then add to salads. I love to toss them in toasted sesame oil, chilli flakes and a dash of soy sauce. Garnish them with toasted sesame seeds and you have a simple, tasty, fresh, and crunchy salad.

Last but not least, the familiar British favourite, the carrot. Orange carrots are usually confined to the side of your dinner plate or kids’ lunch boxes, but don’t forget how yummy they are raw too. Try turning them into ribbons with a vegetable peeler. The sweet, earthy flavours are delicious in a spinach and watercress salad. Try adding crispy fried onions, cranberries, and your favourite salad dressing. Colourful and scrumptious!

Carrots also give a lovely touch of colour in my featured warm lentil salad recipe. This salad has well-rounded flavour combinations with
some fantastic seasonal vegetables and is protein-rich too.

I hope that I have given you ideas and inspirations to jazz up your salads. Enjoy mixing things up!

Recipe to try: https://vegsoc.org/recipes/warm-lentils-with-mozzarella-and-homemade-pesto/