Sophie Gordon’s inspirational book The Whole Vegetable is full of inventive, plant-based recipes. Her fridge dinner salad, for example, turns tired vegetables into a luscious and exotic pink salad by serving them with a tart rhubarb dressing. In today’s take on the original, I’ve added legumes to make it more substantial and upped the umami factor by putting some optional white miso in the dressing.
Fridge-raid salad with rhubarb dressing
Every evening, I raid the kitchen for ingredients that need using up to turn into a simple dinner. That doesn’t mean that our vegetables are always old, rather that we always try to buy produce at its peak, and before it turns. Greens, for example, don’t last as long as hardier root vegetables, so I might prioritise serving greens with a meal before working through the beetroot. Then, if it gets to the end of the week, the day before market day, we’ll often cook up a big fridge-raid soup, stew or salad, such as this one.
Cut the vegetables in a way that suits them, and that makes them palatable to eat raw. Cauliflower, for example, is best cut into bite-size florets, while the stalk offcuts work better cut into matchsticks, cubes or thin slices, on a mandoline, much as you might prepare a root vegetable. Cut ofter vegetables such as cucumber or tomatoes, meanwhile, into larger wedges or chunks, whereas really tough vegetables such as beetroot are best grated or cut into very small cubes when they’re to be eaten raw.
The rhubarb dressing should be thick and creamy, but pourable, so add a splash of water to thin it, if necessary. Any excess dressing will keep in the fridge for up to five days.
Serves 2 as a main course
For the dressing
150g rhubarb, trimmed and roughly chopped
2 garlic cloves, peeled
2 tbsp aquafaba (saved from the tin of beans or lentils, if using)
Sea salt and black pepper
2 tbsp extra-virgin olive oil
¼ tsp hot chilli flakes, or chilli powder
1 tbsp sweetener (maple syrup, date syrup or sugar, say)
1 tbsp whole tahini
1 tbsp white miso (optional)
Juice and finely grated zest of ½ unwaxed (and ideally organic) lemon or lime
For the salad
200g mixed leafy greens (eg, beetroot leaves, kale, chard, spinach)
1 tbsp sweetener (maple syrup, date syrup, sugar)
½ tbsp apple cider vinegar, or other vinegar
500g mixed raw vegetables (eg, broccoli, cauliflower, carrots, turnips)
240g cooked beans or lentils (ie, one drained 400g tin)
20g mixed soft herbs (eg, parsley, mint, coriander)
2 pieces fruit (eg, apple, pear, grapefruit, orange), peeled or cored, as necessary
70g nuts, roughly chopped, or whole seeds (eg, brazil nuts, hazelnuts, sunflower seeds)
To make the dressing, put the rhubarb, garlic, aquafaba (or water) and a pinch of sea salt in a small saucepan, cover and bring to a simmer, stirring occasionally, over a medium heat, until softened. Tip the mix into the jug of an immersion blender or similar, then add the oil, chilli flakes, sweetener, tahini, white miso (if using), lemon juice and zest, then season. Blitz to a smooth, thick and creamy consistency, then set aside.
Now to build the salad. Cut any thick stalks off the mixed leaves and chop them finely across the grain, then roughly shred the remaining leaves. In a large bowl, massage the leaves and stalks with the sweetener, vinegar and a pinch of salt, until they begin to soften.
Prepare the mixed raw vegetables by cutting, slicing or grating them into suitably sized pieces to eat raw. Mix the veg and half the dressing into the greens, then add the cooked beans or lentils and the soft herbs, stalks finely chopped and leaves roughly chopped. Cut the fruit into wedges, and add to the bowl withthe roughly chopped nuts or whole seeds, holding a few back for decoration. Serve in large bowls drizzled with extra dressing and the reserved nuts or seeds.
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