Salmon with a salad of shaved fennel bulb, pears and oranges

Tamara West

Make a change and try a raw winter salad to go with your choice of meat or fish. I have used convenient and quick-cooking cuts to serve with the salads.

The vegetable and fruit combinations are well-planned, but you can play around with the quantities depending on sizes of individual vegetables. Also, add more or less if you prefer one to the other.

Sharpen up your knives and cutting skills, or even better invest in a Japanese mandolin.

Salad and dressing

2 Tbsp	Sherry vinegar
1 tsp	Dijon mustard
¼ cup	Extra virgin olive oil
1 pinch	Salt and freshly ground black pepper
4	Oranges
2	Fennel bulbs, trimmed (Main)
2	Pears, ripe but firm
¼ cup	Mint, torn
2 handfuls	Watercress, rocket or microgreens
¼ cup	Walnuts, roasted (optional)

Salmon

1 Tbsp	Olive oil
4 pieces	Salmon, 180g each, skin on and boned (Main)

Directions

Salad and dressing

1. Remove and discard the outer leaves of the fennel bulbs. Reserve any fronds, chop and add to the salad if wished.
2. Place sherry vinegar and dijon mustard in a small bowl. Whisk in olive oil and season with salt and freshly ground black pepper. Grate the zest of 1 orange and add to dressing.
3. Segment oranges over a small bowl to collect the juice and add juice to dressing. (You may need to sharpen the dressing with extra sherry vinegar if oranges are very sweet.) Place orange segments in a bowl.
4. Halve fennel and shave using a mandolin or cut as thinly as you can with a sharp knife and add to oranges. Quarter, core and peel pears and cut into slices, add in with oranges and fennel. Pour over enough dressing to moisten, add the mint leaves and very gently toss the salad.
5. Place salad on a serving platter, drizzle with any remaining dressing and scatter over greens and walnuts, if using.

Salmon

Season salmon skin with salt and freshly ground black pepper. Rub oil all over salmon portions. Heat a frying pan until hot and sear salmon, skin side down until the skin is crisp. Reduce heat to medium, turn salmon and cook for 3-5 minutes for medium-rare.

Make a change

Sliced avocado is good here too. Sprinkle over toasted sesame seeds rather than walnuts.