Red cabbage, carrot & clementine salad with raisins & walnuts

WITH its amazing colours, this is a stunning dish — a lovely mingling of crisp raw veg, juicy citrus, sweet raisins and slightly bitter walnuts. It’s a perfect choice for winter days — a light, refreshing alternative to heavy, stodgy fare.

SERVES 4

250 g to 300 g red cabbage (½ small cabbage, or ¼ large one)

75 g raisins

2 tbsp raw cider vinegar

4 clementines (or ‘easy-peelers’)

3 medium carrots (200-250 g in total)

100 g walnuts, broken into pieces or roughly chopped

Sea salt and black pepper

Extra virgin olive oil to finish (optional)

REMOVE the core from the piece of cabbage, then use a sharp knife or a food processor to shred the cabbage as thinly as possible. Place it in a large bowl. Add the raisins and cider vinegar to the cabbage. Squeeze in the juice of one of the clementines and add a pinch of salt and a twist of pepper. Tumble everything together and leave to stand for 15 to 20 minutes. This will slightly soften the cabbage and plump up the raisins. Grate the carrots coarsely and scatter them over a large serving platter. Give the cabbage and raisins a good stir, pile on top of the carrots and pour over any juice left in the bowl. Peel the remaining 3 clementines and use a sharp knife to slice them into 1 cm thick rounds (don’t worry if some of the rounds fall apart). Lay the fruit over the top of the cabbage. Scatter over the chopped walnuts. Finish with a trickle of olive oil, and serve. VEG/SEED/NUT VARIATIONS: Some obvious and easy swaps would be white cabbage for red, celeriac or beetroot for carrots, and pumpkin seeds or almonds for the walnuts.