Eat the rainbow: A seasonal salad recipe for every week

Salads don’t have to be boring, says food writer Fi Buchanan. Just keep them fresh, nutritious and seasonal, like these four recipes to enjoy in January

Add a protein to these roast sweet potatoes with chermoula to turn it into a delicious supper (Alan Donaldson)

Salads are misunderstood things. Firstly, they’re not limited to the token quarter tomato, piece of cucumber and shred of iceberg lettuce. “They can be anything you want them to be,” Fi Buchanan writes in her new book, Seasonal Salads, which is packed with 52 delicious recipes, one for every week of the year.

Each recipe is 100 per cent vegetarian, with helpful recommendations for protein additions, and are ordered by month for full seasonality. From quick weeknight throw-togethers to dinner party-worthy showstoppers, there’s something for every occasion.

Whether you’re kickstarting healthy habits, giving Veganuary a go or simply don’t want boring salads, these recipes “for the month of new beginnings” are worth bookmarking.

Roast sweet potatoes with chermoula

“You could easily use roasting potatoes in place of the sweet variety here,” says Buchanan. “This is a favourite in our household as, since the oven’s on anyway, it’s easy to add in a protein of your choice to turn this into a delicious supper. Try chicken breasts or salmon fillets lightly seasoned and scattered with lemon zest, for example.”

Serves: 4

Ingredients:

4 medium-to-small sweet potatoes (about 600g), peeled

2 tbsp olive oil

½ tsp sea salt

250g sour cream or créme fraîche to serve

For the chermoula:

1 tsp coriander seeds

1 tsp cumin seeds

50g coriander

50g flat-leaf parsley

1 tsp picked thyme leaves

1 garlic clove

2 tsp lemon zest

1 tbsp lemon juice

50ml extra virgin olive oil

½ tsp chilli flakes (plus extra to garnish)

Method:

Preheat the oven to 180C/160C fan. Cut the sweet potato into 4-5cm chunks and place on a baking tray. Toss the sweet potato in the oil and sprinkle with the salt then roast for 30 to 35 minutes, until it is tender and starting to crisp at the edges.

For the chermoula, toast the coriander and cumin seeds over a medium heat in a dry frying pan until they start to crackle and become fragrant. Add these to a food processor along with the coriander, parsley, thyme, garlic, lemon zest and juice, oil and chilli flakes and blitz until combined.

Spoon the chermoula over the sweet roasties and top with a dollop of sour cream or créme fraîche and a light sprinkling of chilli flakes.

Classic caesar with parmesan shards

The parmesan shards make this salad dinner party worthy (Alan Donaldson)

Serves: 4

Ingredients:

2 cos lettuces, trimmed and cut into quarters lengthways, or 4 baby gems cut in half

1 quantity croutons (see below)

50g freshly grated parmesan

1 quantity parmesan Shards (see below)

Salt and freshly ground black pepper

For the dressing:

1 tsp Dijon mustard

Juice of ½ lemon

1 garlic clove, minced

30ml extra virgin olive oil

200g good-quality shop bought mayo

2 anchovy fillets, mashed to a paste (optional)

Method:

The trick here is to dry your lettuce well after you’ve washed it and to dress the croutons at the same time as the leaves. The croutons should be delicious little magnets for the parmesan. It’s worth using a microplane, which produces light snowflakes of parmesan, rather than an old-school grater.

Make the dressing by whisking the mustard, lemon, garlic and oil into the mayo and, when combined, add the anchovies, if using. Taste and add salt and freshly ground black pepper to your liking.

Dress the lettuce and croutons in a wide shallow bowl, using your hands to make sure everything is well coated. Transfer to a serving plate and scatter over the freshly grated parmesan then arrange the parmesan shards. Add a final twist of black pepper before serving.

Parmesan shards

Ingredients:

100g parmesan, freshly grated

½ tsp cayenne pepper (optional)

Method:

Preheat the oven to 200C/180C fan. Line a baking sheet with greaseproof paper and sprinkle over the parmesan. Bake for 8 to10 minutes until the cheese is golden and bubbling.

Once cool, sprinkle with the cayenne, if using, then break the cheese into shards. The shards will keep in an airtight container for 4 to 5 days.

Croutons

Ingredients:

2 slices of de-crusted bread (stale is fine)

1 garlic clove, cut in half lengthways

3 tbsp extra virgin olive oil

½ tsp fine sea salt

Method:

Preheat the oven to 200C/180C fan. Rub the bread on each side with the cut half of the garlic and cut or tear into 2-3cm cubes.

Add the olive oil and salt to a large bowl and throw in the bread, mixing (ideally with your hands) to ensure it is well coated. Put the cubes on a baking tray and bake for 10 to 15 minutes, giving them a shake at the halfway mark.

They are done when crisp and golden brown.

Spicy: add 1 teaspoon chilli powder.

Smoky: add 1 teaspoon smoked paprika.

Fragrant: add chopped rosemary and lemon zest.

Spice-roasted carrots

A dish that tastes as good as it looks (Alan Donaldson)

“Roasting sweetens the carrots, and the spices make them super delicious,” writes Buchanan. “I like to use the multicoloured carrots you get at the beginning of the year in this salad if I can find them. There’s no real difference in flavour; they just look beautiful.”

Serves: 4

Ingredients:

500g carrots, scrubbed and sliced on a long diagonal

3 tbsp extra virgin olive oil

1 tbsp maple syrup

1 tsp smoked paprika

1 tsp ground cumin

1 tsp whole coriander seeds

¼ tsp ground ginger

¼ tsp ground cinnamon

¼ tsp ground turmeric

⅛ tsp cayenne

¼ tsp sea salt

For the dollop:

300g Greek yoghurt

25g coriander, finely chopped

Zest and juice of ½ lime

Method:

Preheat the oven to 180C/160C fan. In a large bowl, mix the carrots, oil, maple syrup and all the spices and salt together, then tip them into a roasting tray lined with baking paper.

Roast for 25 to 30 minutes, or until the carrots are tender and starting to caramelise at the edges.

Whilst the carrots are roasting, make the dollop by mixing the yoghurt, coriander and lime zest and juice together. Serve the carrots warm with a tablespoon of the dollop on the side.

Celeriac remoulade

Lemon and creme fraiche add tang to this wintery salad (Alan Donaldson)

“Lemon and creme fraiche add a tang to this delicious wintery salad. Add the celeriac straight to the dressing as you chop it as it browns quickly.”

Serves: 4

Ingredients:

Juice of 1 lemon

3 tbsp good-quality mayonnaise or vegenaise

3 tbsp créme fraîche (omit if you’re vegan and double the vegenaise)

1 tbsp wholegrain Dijon mustard

1 small-to-medium celeriac (about 700g), scrubbed

15g picked tarragon leaves, finely chopped

15g picked parsley leaves, finely chopped

2 tbsp tiny capers, rinsed

Salt and freshly ground black pepper

Method:

First make the dressing by mixing the lemon juice, mayo, créme fraîche, mustard and black pepper to taste in a large bowl. Set aside.

Using a sharp knife, top and tail the celeriac, then stand it on one end and, following its curve, cut downward to remove the skin and nobbly bits. Halve the celeriac and slice each half very thinly (use a mandoline, if you have one). Then, taking two or three slices at a time, chop the slices into matchsticks. When you get into a rhythm, the chopping action becomes pleasingly meditative.

Mix the dressing into the celeriac together with the tarragon, parsley and capers. Taste for seasoning and eat within 3 days.