Winter salad

The Editor -

This delicious winter salad uses seasonal favourites such as Brussels sprouts and chestnuts.

It makes a delicious light lunch or the perfect side salad to accompany any leftover Christmas turkey or ham.

Serves: 4 people as a side or light meal
Time: 15 minutes prep, 20 minutes cooking

Before you begin: Preheat oven to 180 degrees.

For the salad:

• 150g buckwheat groats, pre-soaked for 1 hour
• 400g Brussels sprouts
• 60g walnuts, de-shelled
• 60g chestnuts, cooked & peeled
• 6 medjool dates (or 80g sultanas)
• 30ml red wine vinegar
• 30ml water
• 30g fresh parsley
• 2 endive
• pinch sea salt

For the red wine vinaigrette:

• 30ml red wine vinegar
• 30ml extra virgin olive oil
• 10g runny honey
• pinch sea salt

Method

For the red wine vinaigrette:
Simply whisk together all the dressing ingredients, or shake in a sealed jam jar until combined.
For the salad:

  1. Toast the walnuts and chestnuts in the preheated oven for 8 minutes until smelling nutty and delicious. Once cool, coarsely chop and leave to one side.
  2. Tip the soaked buckwheat into a sieve and rinse under running water.
  3. Bring a large saucepan of salted water to the boil. Once boiling whisk in the buckwheat and cook gently for 12-14 minutes until tender. If you are using an alternative grain, follow the instructions on the packet.
  4. Bring a second saucepan of salted water to the boil for the brussels sprouts.
  5. Trim the base of each sprout and remove any tough or discoloured outer leaves. Blanch the sprouts in the boiling water for 4 minutes.
  6. Drain the sprouts and once cool enough to handle, quarter the sprouts and allow them to dry out further.
  7. Drain the buckwheat and spread out on some kitchen paper to dry thoroughly to ensure your salad is light and fluffy.
  8. Slice the dates, chop the parsley, and part the endive leaves.
  9. Bring the red wine vinegar and water up to the boil in a small saucepan and thrown in the chopped dates or sultanas; these will swell and pickle almost instantly.
  10. In a large serving bowl combine the buckwheat, sprouts, toasted nuts, pickled dates/sultanas, parsley, and prepped endive, and toss all the ingredients together gently with the salad dressing.
  11. Taste for seasoning; if you fancy an additional splash of dressing use the left-over pickling liquid from the dates/sultanas.