This is one of those salads that gets better with age.
Sunset is now at 4:16 p.m. Our days are short and getting shorter. While my grass may still be green, the only thing surviving in my garden is parsley and Swiss chard in the cold frame, and some scraggly thyme, sage, and peppermint in the herb bed. Our local farmers to the rescue!
A new season
Our winter CSA starts this weekend, a new season, and that means lots of root vegetables and hardy greens. We love the long-keeping radishes that beautifully decorate our arugula, kale, spinach, pea shoots, and mixed baby greens from the greenhouses. These will supply the fresh crunch we crave in a salad, along with lightly blanched carrots, turnips, and other roots.
Something crunchy
Celeriac stands in for the celery in this dish –– we’ll have plenty of this throughout the winter –– but you could also substitute jicama if you can find it. We want crunchy all around in this salad, with a bit of chewy from the dried cherries, and tart/sweet from the apple.
The exact radio of the root veggies is up to you, but in order to be a winter salad, you want the roots to play a staring role. This is how I made it one day using watermelon and Daikon radishes, carrots, and celeriac, but you can also add blanched turnips, rutabagas, or beets. Use whatever you have, or love!
Try a little green
The green is important, but use something sturdy if you plan to recycle this dish –– kale or spinach will stand up nicely, arugula and tender lettuce sprouts will not.
Garnish with whatever seeds you like, or omit them. I used carraway seeds because I love the flavor and I don’t always remember to use them!
To make this a full meal, add a couple of cups of cooked beans (a can, rinsed). Delicious, and packed with protein, fiber, and nutrition!
Winter Salad
- 3 tbsp. cider vinegar
- 2 tbsp. finely minced shallots, or onion
- 1 tsp. French mustard
- 2 tbsp. fresh parsley
- 2 scallions, white and light green, minced
- 1 tbsp. maple syrup
- 2 tbsp. prepared horseradish
- 4 tbsp. extra virgin olive oil
- 3 cups radishes, match sticks or dice
- 1/2 to 1 cup celeriac, cubed
- 1 green apple, cubed
- 1 small carrot or parsnip, diced small, blanched
- ¼ cup dried cherries or cranberries
- 1 cup chopped fresh spinach
- Salt and pepper
- 1 tsp. caraway seeds
- 2 cups cooked, rinsed beans, optional
In a small bowl, combine the vinegar, shallots, mustard, parsley, scallions (save some of the dark green for garnish) maple syrup, horseradish, and olive oil. Set this dressing aside.
Prep the rest of the vegetables. You should have a little over a quart of prepped root vegetables of any proportion you like. Place them in a large bowl along with the cherries and spinach.
Add the dressing, salt and pepper to taste, and mix everything up. If you plan this as lunch rather than just a side dish, add the beans. Taste and correct the seasoning. Do you want more horseradish? Maple syrup? Does it simply need more salt?
Place in serving bowl and garnish with seeds and the reserved scallion greens.
Second Act:
This is delicious tucked in a tortilla, wrap, or even a little lettuce cup!
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Such a colorful, healthy salad definitely uplifts the spirit in the winter. Love the addition of horseradish in there! 🙂
The winter radishes are not as spicy as the summer ones, so when I first made it, it just needed a little spark! Horseradish to the rescue!
Great solution! 🙂
looks amazing! I so miss our CSA (we now live too far away to drive there every week)
So sorry you have such distance! I know I feel extremely fortunate that our local farm does such a good job. I do not take this for granted.
🙂 I love it!!!!
Every holiday grandmother made a Waldorf salad. After she passed mother and I made it.This past week week I made one first time since mom passed 9 years ago. Like it.
Ah! It’s wonderful to make those dishes that bring us back to our own personal histories. My sister always makes a Waldorf salad, and her family looks forward to it every holiday.
I love how beautiful watermelon radishes look. I cannot find them locally.
I agree, they are really beautiful and have a lovely flavor. We are certainly lucky that they store well and our CSA has them all winter long!
This is funny, but celeriac is one food I don’t like. THE one food. But, the rest of the salad is fabulous!!! Love the dressing.
If that is your only food dislike, you are invited to my table any time! I’ve never been a fan of the flavor of celery by itself, but it is so essential as a part of the whole. I wouldn’t eat a celeriac salad, but don’t mind it as one of many. My vegetable nemesis is red beets. They make me shudder, but I love the greens!
I’m a huge fan of our CSA, too — especially the red onions!
Love the red onions too! So much flavor, even though they always make me cry! 🥲
love those colours!! looks delicious!
Thank you so much! It is really good, and versatile as well!
What a beautiful salad, and I love the idea of tucking it in a wrap!
Jenna
Thank you Jenna, it’s my little left-over salad trick!
That looks so good. The combo of maple syrup and horseradish caught my eye. Thanks for the wonderful recipe. 🙂
You are very welcome! A little horseradish for zing, and a little maple to balance that out!
Ohhh winter salad! I often think of soups but not salads during this time of year so it’s a great post to see for a change 🙂
I know Christy! But we crave those fresh veggies all year round! If we can make something like this from local produce, all the better!
Thinking back, I don’t believe I’ve ever used caraway seeds in a salad before. Thanks for your inspiration, the salad sounds great.
You’re very welcome! Those poor little caraway seeds are often neglected, and they are a seed that keeps flavor for a long time!
I adore salads but in colder weather not many of them feel filling enough. This combination sounds really nice✨
Thank you so much! It’s a nice selection of texture and nutrition.
Exactly 🙌👍👍
This looks fantastic, Dorothy! I love the colors and the way you’ve chopped the veggies. I’ve wanted to sign up for a CSA and this post has convinced me to do it this year!
Thank you so much Terrie! I am so pleased that you are going to sign up for a CSA! I love so much knowing that I support our local farms, and that I know how the food in grown. In the deep of winter, I look forward to vibrant radishes and beets and lovely freshly grown greens! Good luck!
Love the idea of wrapping this in a tortilla. Definitely will try. And adding caraway seeds….how fun!