Recipes with Julie Van Rosendaal: Winter salads

If you've been craving something cold and crunchy this week — perhaps a big salad, with lots of stuff in it — veggies like kale, cabbage, brussels sprouts, cauliflower and kohlrabi, and even root vegetables that can be cut into thin ribbons with a vegetable peeler, can make a wonderful winter salad.

• LISTEN: Julie van Rosendaal talks about quick, easy and healthy winter salads.

We talked about all the things you can transform into a salad on this week's Calgary Eyeopener; here are a few wintry salad recipes for further inspiration.

Bashed Salad

A few years ago, I fell in love with the smash salad at Camp Cookhouse and General Store in the tiny town of Elkwater, Alta. The salad is named for the baby cukes and radishes that are bashed and broken into rough chunks, making them a great size and shape to spear with a fork, with jagged edges that give dressing plenty of places to cling to.

• Bookmark cbc.ca/juliesrecipes to keep up with all of Julie Van Rosendaal's dishes

I started making a version with a creamy garlic-jalapeño-cilantro-lime sauce I fell for at around the same time, which is delicious on everything. (Bonus: this also makes good use of the crumby bits in the bottom of a bag of tortilla chips.)

This recipe is from Dirty Food by Julie Van Rosendaal.

Ingredients:

Green sauce:

• ½ bunch cilantro
• 1 jalapeño, seeded and chopped
• 1 garlic clove, peeled
• juice of a lime (or peel and toss it in whole)
• ⅓ cup mayonnaise
• ⅓ cup sour cream
• salt

Salad:

• 2-3 baby cucumbers, broken or cut into chunks
• a handful of radishes, broken or cut into chunks
• ½-1 cup chickpeas, well drained (and smashed if you like)
• 1 avocado, sliced or diced
• ¼-½ cup crumbled feta
• a few leaves of fresh mint, torn or thinly sliced
• a couple handfuls of crushed tortilla chips (good ones)

Preparation:

To make the green sauce, whiz everything in a blender, cilantro stems and all, adjusting the lime juice and salt as needed to suit your taste. Assemble the salad by layering the cucumbers, radishes, chickpeas, avocado, feta and mint on a platter or individual plates. Drizzle with green sauce (stash extra in the fridge for a week or so — you'll find so many uses for it) and sprinkle with tortilla chips.

Serves: 2-4.

Roasted Cabbage and Root Veggies on Ricotta or Goat Cheese

Roasted cabbage makes a great winter version of an iceberg-based wedge salad. Top with other roasted veggies (cruciferous or root vegetables or even potatoes work well), cooked grains and pulses or whatever you can find in your fridge.

Ingredients:

• cabbage wedges (1-2 per person)
• vegetable oil, for cooking
• salt
• warm or cold leftover roasted veggies
• soft ricotta, feta or goat cheese
• lemon juice or cream, as needed (optional)
• good olive oil
• toasted walnuts, almonds or pecans and/or bread cubes/crumbs

Preparation:

Preheat your oven to 425 F and set wedges of cabbage on a parchment-lined sheet. Drizzle with oil, sprinkle with salt and roast for 20-30 minutes, or until tender and caramelized on the edges.

Meanwhile, if you'd like your ricotta, feta or goat cheese creamier, whiz it in a food processor with a squeeze of lemon juice and/or a splash of cream, if needed, to loosen it to the consistency of soft whipped cream cheese. (Add a pinch of salt too, if it needs it. Feta likely won't.) 

Spread the whipped cheese onto a serving plate (or divide between individual plates) and top with the roasted cabbage and vegetables. Drizzle with a little olive oil (the good stuff, if you have some) or even a bit of your favourite vinaigrette, and some toasted nuts and/or breadcrumbs and serve immediately.

Serves: as many as you like.

Citrus Salad

Citrus is at its peak during the winter months and a platter of sliced oranges looks stunning.

Choose an assortment of citrus fruits like grapefruit, tangerines and blood oranges to create a pretty palette of shades and shapes. Creamy avocado makes a nice contrast to the juicy citrus fruit. 

Ingredients:

Salad:

• 3-4 oranges, grapefruit and mandarins (any combo — an assortment is nice)
• 1 ripe avocado, thinly sliced
• ½ shallot or a small wedge of purple onion, thinly sliced or minced
• ¼ cup crumbled feta (optional)
• chopped fresh mint (optional)

Vinaigrette:

• ⅓ cup extra-virgin olive oil
• 3 tbsp white wine vinegar
• 1 tbsp honey
• 1 tsp grainy mustard
• freshly ground black pepper

Peel and slice the citrus fruit crosswise about ¼-inch thick. Arrange on a platter, top with avocado slices and shallot and scatter with feta (if using) and mint. Shake up the vinaigrette ingredients in a jar and drizzle overtop before serving.

Serves: 6.