Salads
Vitamin C Salad
We often go straight to citrus when we think of Vitamin C, but peppers, parsley and kale contain even higher concentrations of this immune-supporting nutrient. Here we’ve combined them all with oranges, offering an impressive dose of vitamin C, and a burst of vibrant colour and flavour.
Cook's notes
Don’t be put off by the idea of raw kale, by massaging the leaves with salt it wilts, tenderizes, and seasons them, making them perfectly palatable. You can save the stalks to make our kale stalk pesto. Cooking the peppers reduces the vitamin c slightly but it is made up for by a superior taste, texture, and smoky sweetness.
Ingredients
- 100g kale
- 100g of cauliflower or broccoli
- 3 blood oranges – or use standard ones
- 1 tbsp Dijon mustard
- 1 tbsp red wine vinegar
- honey – optional
- 40g whole almonds, roughly sliced
- 1 tsp smoked paprika
- 50g mixed salad leaves – ideally including some baby spinach and mustard leaves
- small bunch of parsley, leaves picked from the stalks
- 2 roasted red peppers, skinned, deseed and sliced
- olive oil
- salt
Method
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Step 1
Remove the kale leaves from the stalks . Tear the leaves into bite-sized pieces. Throw them into a large mixing bowl with ½ tablespoon of oil and a pinch of salt. Work and massage the leaves for a few minutes with your hands until the leaves darken and soften. Keep to one side.
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Step 2
Using a sharp knife or mandolin, slice the cauliflower as thinly as you can.
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Step 3
Toast the almonds in a dry frying pan until starting to colour, remove from the heat and toss them with a small dash of oil, pinch of salt and the paprika.
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Step 4
Finely zest the oranges, keep the zest to one side. You now want to segment the fruit by freeing it from the membrane inside. Start by slicing away the skin in downward cuts, following the curve of the fruit. Hold each orange over a bowl and make a V-shaped cut on each side of the membrane, to release the segments. Squeeze any in juice from the membrane too.
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Step 5
To make the dressing whisk the mustard, vinegar and 2 tbsp of the orange juice in a small bowl with a pinch of salt. Now whisk in 3 tbsp of olive oil, a little at a time until you have a smooth emulsified dressing. Taste and tweak the seasoning to your liking, adding a little honey for extra sweetness if you like.
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Step 6
Now add the salad and parsley leaves to the bowl of kale, along with the orange segments, cauliflower, and roasted peppers. Add the dressing and mix well. Serve onto plates or shallow bowls and garnish with the toasted nuts and orange zest.