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Avocado & Cos Salad

Serves 4-6
Prep time: 10 minutes

INGREDIENTS

2 heads baby cos lettuce, washed and leaves broken apart
2 avocados, sliced into wedges
4 spring onions, finely sliced
2 tbs sunflower seeds

For the dressing
1/4 cup apple cider vinegar
1/4 cup avocado oil
1/2 cup light olive oil
1 tbs lemon juice
1 tsp salt
1/4 cup chopped dill
1 tbs chopped mint
Pepper

METHOD

1. Add cos lettuce leaves, avocado, spring onions, and sunflower seeds into a wide salad bowl.

2. Combine vinegar, lemon juice and oils in a jar. Shake until emulsified.

3. Add chopped dill and mint into vinegarette, mixing again. Season with salt and pepper to taste.

4. Drizzle salad with dressing just before serving.

Note: If you like a sweeter dressing add 1 tsp of maple syrup. Excess dressing can be kept in a jar in the fridge.

As soon as the weather starts to heat up, and the watermelon starts to come into season this salad is whipped out. It’s as refreshing and delicious as it sounds, and is also incredibly simple to make! This salad makes. for instant summer vibes. Must be eaten in the sunshine and accompanied by some kind of crisp natural wine (not actually essential but you can’t go wrong!).

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Watermelon, Vegan Feta & Mint Salad

Serves 4
Prep time: 10 minutes

INGREDIENTS

1/4 watermelon, cut into slices
Good handful mint, finely chopped
2 spring onions, finely chopped (using green part only)
1/2 cup vegan feta, crumbled (I use YAY! Vegan Feta)

For the dressing
1 tbs lime juice
zest of 1 lime
3 tbs light olive oil
1 tsp white wine vinegar
1 tsp maple syrup
pinch salt
Good handful mint, finely chopped

METHOD

1. Arrange watermelon, mint, spring onions, and vegan feta in a wide, flat salad bowl.

2. Add all dressing ingredients in a jar and shake well to combine.

3. Pour or spoon dressing over salad just before serving.

Note: This salad recipe is slightly different from what is pictured. Why? This image was actually taken a few years ago and I have since created this new recipe which in my opinion is much better! This salad would still be delicious with microgreens and finely sliced radish as pictured - so feel free to add these ingredients if desired! Here is an unstyled picture of the above recipe, taken on my front deck, before being quickly devoured in case you need a reference.

Radicchio, Blood Orange & Finger Lime Salad // Kenkō Kitchen. Photography by Elisa Watson, styling by Kate Bradley (Kenkō Kitchen).

This is one of my go-to salads when attending a dinner party or having people over. Not only can this salad be whipped up in under 10 minutes, it looks beautiful and tastes just as good! The pairing of radicchio, blood orange, and roasted hazelnuts has always been a favourite of mine and the finger lime really takes this dish to the next level, adding a wonderfully tangy and sweet burst of excitement with every bite.

Finger lime, for those who have not yet been introduced to this magical citrus fruit, is an Australian bush lime with caviar-like beads (cells) inside. The juicy caviar-like beads provide a delicious burst of lemon-lime flavour with every mouthful and it also adds a beautiful pop of colour to dishes both savoury and sweet. Finger limes come in an array of different colours from green, yellow, purple, pink and bright red and they can be found at specialty greengrocers and markets. 

Like all citrus fruits, finger limes are a great source of Vitamin C - with this small lime packing three times more Vitamin C than a mandarin. They are also high in Vitamin E, folate and potassium. 

If you've got a bit of a green thumb, finger lime trees can also be picked up from plant stores and nurseries. Although our plant at home is only small it produces masses amounts of these delicious finger limes. If growing your own, a good tip is that finger limes can be frozen for up to 12 months without flavour loss - so if you end up with an abundance just freeze them for all your wow-dishes throughout the year!

If you can't find finger limes at the markets or green grocer - try checking out The Lime Caviar Company who sell fresh and frozen finger limes delivering Australia-wide and internationally. 

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Radicchio, Blood Orange & Finger Lime Salad

Serves 4
Prep time: 10 minutes

INGREDIENTS

1 medium head radicchio, washed and cored
2 blood oranges, peeled and segmented
1/4 cup roasted hazelnuts, roughly chopped
2-3 finger limes, 'caviar' only

micro greens or sprouts

For the dressing
2-3 tablespoons olive oil
1 tablespoon white wine vinegar or lemon juice
pinch salt flakes
cracked black pepper

METHOD

1. Break radicchio leaves up into a large salad bowl and arrange the blood orange segments around the leaves.

2. Sprinkle on the roasted hazelnuts, and just before serving, add the finger lime 'caviar' and micro greens.

3. To make the dressing, combine all ingredients in a small bowl. Pour over dressing just before serving.

Photography by Elisa Watson

Fennel, Cabbage & Kraut Salad with Yuzu Dressing

Gluten Free, Vegan, Sugar Free

Serves 4
Prep time: 10 minutes

Ingredients

Fennel & Cabbage Salad
1 bulb fennel, finely sliced
¼ red cabbage, finely sliced
1/8 white cabbage, finely sliced
4 spring onions, finely sliced
½ cup beetroot sauerkraut
¼ cup fresh parsley, finely chopped
¼ cup fresh mint, finely chopped
2 tbs fresh dill, finely chopped
¼ cup activated pepitas
2 tbsp sesame seeds
1/3 cup coconut flakes

Yuzu Dressing
¼ cup extra virgin olive oil
2-3 tsp yuzu juice*
1 tbs fresh dill, finely chopped
pinch salt
cracked pepper

Method

1. To create the salad, add all salad ingredients together in a bowl. Toss to combine.
2. To make dressing combine all ingredients together and mix until combined. Season with salt & pepper and add more yuzu juice if required.
3. Add dressing to salad just before serving and toss salad to combine.

*Yuzu juice can be found from Japanese supermarkets and Asian grocers. Yuzu can be substituted for lemon, lime or grapefruit juice.

This is by far my favourite, easy salad. It takes no time to prepare, it's vibrant and it's delicious. A lot of people shrug salads off as being boring or not being filling and as the Simpsons saying goes - "you don't make friends with salad". This one slaps all those comments in the face. It is a meal in itself, it is so versatile and you feel so good eating it.
 
Ingredients
 
1/2 cauliflower
1/2 big sweet potato
1/4 pumpkin
2 fresh beetroots
1/2 bunch kale
2 tsp turmeric
2 tsp cumin seeds
1 tsp cinnamon
pinch salt and pepper
3 tbsp coconut oil (melted)
1/2 tsp cayenne pepper
drizzle olive oil
1/4 cup goats cheese (or cashew cheese for the vegans)
1/4 cup sprouts
1/4 cup walnuts

Preheat oven to 180 degrees celsius. 

For this salad it's very simple. First thing you want to do is cut up your vegetables into good bite size pieces (not too small as they do shrink when roasted).   Place vegetables in mixing bowl (bar beetroot and kale) and coat with toss with spices and coconut oil until everything is covered. Place vegetables on roasting tray and  then add beetroot to the bowl, cover beetroot with all the remaining spices and oil left in the bowl and then place on tray with the rest of the vegetables. We do these separate as otherwise all the vegetables end up purple!
 
Bake vegetables for approx. 20-30mins until soft inside but crunchy on the outside. They may need a quick turn half way through.
 
Whilst vegetables are baking, chop up kale, place in a bowl and drizzle with olive oil. Massage the leaves of the kale until all are covered with the olive oil. Once vegetables are done place in bowl with the kale and lightly toss - being careful not to mush the sweet potato and pumpkin.
 
Top salad with crumbled goats cheese, salad sprouts and chopped walnuts and you're ready to serve. Ooooh gurl.

Photography by Elisa Watson.