
The Scarlet Salad
This went down a treat with the Scarlets Rugby Team as it’s packed with flavour and colour, and the vinegary, garlicky dressing brings the leaves to life. I get my salad leaves from Cae Tan, a Community Supported Agricultural Project in South Wales. Using fresh, biodynamic produce makes an unbelievable difference to how much I enjoy a salad bowl.
Prep Time15 mins
Cook Time5 mins
Total Time20 mins
Servings: 4 People
Ingredients
For the Marinade
- 2 Oranges Segmented and juice collected
- 2 Fennel Bulbs Cut into wafer-thin slices
- 1 tsp Paprika
For the Dressing
- 4 tbsp Olive Oil Extra virgin
- 2 tbsp White wine vinegar
- 1 tsp Wholegrain mustard
- 1 Garlic clove Crushed
- 1 tsp Maple Syrup
- Salt and pepper
For the salad
- 3 tbsp Sunflower seeds
- 3 tbsp Pine nuts
- 150 g Russian or regular Kale
- 100 g mixed salad leaves
- 1/2 cucumber
- 300 g Rocket
- 10 Cherry tomatoes
- Handful of edible flowers
Instructions
- Start with the marinade. Put the orange segments and juice into a bowl with the fennel slices as soon as you slice them (to stop them browning), then add the paprika and stir. Leave to stand, overnight ideally, or for as long as possible.Put the sunflower seeds and pine nuts into a heavy- based pan and toast them over low heat for 5 minutes, until they take on a rich brown colour – be careful not to char them.To make the dressing, put the ingredients into a bowl, season to taste and mix thoroughly. The mustard should emulsify the mixture to make a smooth dressing.Next, prepare the Russian kale. This leaf is good raw, but the stems can be tough. Remove the stems and slice the leaves into bite-sized sections.Put the salad leaves, the cucumber, kale, rocket and tomatoes into a serving bowl. Pour a half of the dressing into the bowl and toss the salad by hand. Drain the fennel fromthe marinade, reserving a few orange slices for decoration, and add it to the bowl. Sprinkle over the sunflower seeds and pine nuts, arrange the orange slices on top, then drizzlethe remaining dressing over the salad. Garnish with the edible flowers and serve immediately.
Notes

Photography by Jamie Orlando Smith and Chris Terry