a healthy and filling cold-weather salad

I was flipping through Jamie Oliver’s new cookery book Jamie at Home this weekend, which I have to say I quite like, overall, if we excuse the atrocious recipe names (i.e. the motherload sauce or absolutely fantastic partridge stew) and the messy presentation. It’s not too often these days that I take away four or five ideas from a first read, keen to try them out.

The book is separated by seasons, and in the winter chapter, there’s a winter salad section. And I really like some of these: asian duck and squash salad and and another that reads like a list of crudités, but with a milky parsley dressing.

But it got me thinking (and hungry) on Sunday afternoon. Knowing I was going to concoct a roasted root vegetable stew with cheesy dumplings that evening, I wanted something light, but filling; tangy, yet sweet. I think what I came up with was just the thing.

The blue vinney (the best reduced-fat blue cheese out there) is a critical ingredient in the salad. It is just key to keep the portion size reasonable – i.e. 30-35g. Use 2/3 of it crumbled in the salad, and use the remainder in the salad dressing – that way, the light taste of blue vinney will distribute throughout the salad.

To bulk this up, serve with some wholemeal bread – or if there’s someone fearful of food without meat, a few grilled slices of Danish bacon is quite nice. (I’ll admit I did make this salad while I was on my own.) But the variety of crunches with the soft creamy bites of blue vinney made for quite a pleasant meal.

Spinach salad with apple, celery and blue vinney
(serves 1)

for the salad:
50g spinach leaves
2 stalks of celery, trimmed, sliced lengthways, then chopped
1 royal gala apple, cored and sliced, saving one slice for the dressing
2 spring onions, chopped
20-25 g blue vinney, crumbled

for the dressing:
2-3 tbsp of white wine vinegar
flesh of one slice of apple
a few sprigs of fresh parsley
10 g blue vinney
salt and freshly ground black pepper

Combine the salad ingredients into a large salad bowl. In another smaller bowl, combine the ingredients for the dressing, and whiz with a hand blender.

Pour the salad dressing over the ingredients in the large bowl and toss throughout.