How to make healthy winter salad recipes

Don't think salads are only for summer. Post Christmas, a light and colourful array of green leaves and bright fruits perfectly balances out a week of gluttonous eating

From left to right, red cabbage and pomegranate, butternut squash and turnips and apples

Red cabbage, kale and pomegranate salad

Serves 8

1 pomegranate
​200g red cabbage
​100g kale
Sea salt and freshly ground black pepper

For the dressing

2 tbsp lime juice
3 tbsp grapeseed oil
1 tsp honey

Cut the pomegranate in half over a bowl lined with a sieve to catch the juices. Take out the seeds and reserve 2 tbsp of the juices collected for the dressing; set aside. Thinly slice the cabbage and roughly chop the kale. Mix the cabbage, kale and pomegranate seeds together in a bowl. For the dressing, mix the 2 tbsp pomegranate juice with the lime juice, grapeseed oil and honey, with salt and pepper to taste. Just before serving, toss the salad in the dressing, seasoning with salt and pepper.

Butternut squash salad

Vegetables have always been a big part of my daily diet – I just love them – so Christmas and other holidays can be hard for me, because there is so much meat and fat involved. I find that if I include a lot of vegetables I feel so much better, so my Christmas dinner has a lot of salads and vegetable combinations.

Serves 8

1 butternut squash, about 500g
3 tbsp olive oil
1 tsp Szechuan peppercorns, crushed with a pestle and mortar
½ red cabbage, about 500g
Sea salt and freshly ground black pepper
1 bunch of coriander (cilantro), to serve

For the dressing

1 tbsp grapeseed oil
3 tbsp soy sauce
Sea salt and freshly ground black pepper

Preheat the oven to 180°C/350°F/gas mark 4. Cut the squash in half lengthways, remove all the seeds and cut across into thin slices, 5mm/¹/4in thick, with the peel still on. Spread out on a baking sheet lined with baking parchment, mix with the olive oil, Szechuan pepper and some salt and bake for 10 minutes, then leave to cool on the sheet.

While the squash is in the oven, cut the red cabbage into slices about 5mm/¹/4in thick, rinse in cold water and drain well. Mix the dressing ingredients together, and just before serving mix the butternut, red cabbage and dressing together, place on a serving dish and decorate with coriander (cilantro).

Turnips with apple and thyme

Turnips and apples really suit each other and they go so well with duck. They’re also great the next day for a feast of leftovers, just on rye bread.

Serves 8

3 Cox’s orange apples
​500g turnips
30g butter
10 thyme sprigs
2–3 tbsp apple cider vinegar
Sea salt and freshly ground black pepper

Cut the apples and turnips into wedges about 1cm/½in wide. Melt the butter in a large frying pan, add the turnips and thyme and sauté for 5 minutes or until golden. Then lower the heat and add the apples with some salt and pepper. Sprinkle in the vinegar and gently stir the apples and turnips around.

Cook for about 5 minutes more, season to taste with salt and pepper and serve right away.

Fritter and colourful salad

These small fritters, patties, or whatever you like to call them, are true party stoppers. Every time I serve them people say: “Oh… please can I have the recipe?”. I love it that something so simple and low cost can be so delicious. This salad is made with some of my favourite winter vegetables. I never get tired of cabbage, and could eat it every day. These kinds of hardy vegetables are a really good match for heavy winter food that is high in fat.

Celeriac fritters

Serves 8

250g celeriac
​250g parsley root
2 eggs, lightly beaten
50g sesame seeds
1 green chilli, finely chopped
1 small onion, finely grated
Olive oil, for frying
Sea salt and freshly ground black pepper

Peel the celeriac and parsley root, then grate them both. Mix with all the remaining ingredients in a bowl, seasoning with salt and pepper. Heat a little oil in a frying pan and, when hot, place spoonfuls of the mixture in the pan and cook for 4–5 minutes on each side, until golden and crisp.

TIP: If you can't get hold of parsley root, these fritters can be made with celeriac alone.

Extract taken from Scandinavian Comfort Food by Trine Hahnemann (Quadrille, £25.00 RRP) Photography by Columbus Leth