Red Cabbage, Blood Orange & Walnut Salad

A wintery salad that is more substantial and interesting than lettuce. I paired this salad with a bit of char-grilled chicken but then it occurred to me that it would be fantastic with oily fish such as smoked mackerel. Oooo...or goats cheese if you swapped the walnuts for hazelnuts....

Blood oranges are in season now but as you can see from the picture they are not very 'bloody'. The oranges will get deeper red as the season goes on so maybe wait a week or two! Oh and make sure you shred the vegetables really finely or the salad will not eat well - I used a Japanese mandolin.

Ingredients:

1 large blood orange, peeled and segmented

1 large handful walnuts halves

2 tbsp walnut oil

2 tbsp extra virgin olive oil

2 tbsp good balsamic vinegar

salt and pepper to taste

½ red cabbage, very finely shredded

½ small red onion, finely sliced

Method:

Skin each segment of orange removing pips as you go, then cut each segment into 2 small pieces. Toast your walnuts in the oven until crunchy but not burned – approx 5 mins at 200c.  

Whisk together the oils and vinegar and season to taste with the pepper and salt. Toss together the vegetables and the dressing and transfer to a serving dish. Roughly crush the walnuts in your hands and sprinkle over the salad.