A 10/10 salad, in under 10 minutes

And the importance of a good veggie peeler

I’m a huge fan of a leafless salad. It’s easy to forget that no, we don’t always need leaves to make a salad feel complete. Just the other day, despite having cucumbers, carrots, peppers, courgettes, avocado, and fennel in the fridge, I almost sent my husband out to buy a bag of leaves, before I came to my senses and threw together the simplest, most delicious chopped veggie and tuna salad for lunch.

What you need, more than a bag of leaves, is actually just a good set of knives, a mandoline, and a solid veg peeler for creating long, wide ribbons. With those few items, you’re officially equipped to shave all sorts of vegetables into their lovely, wafer-thin, wonderfully textured, fresh, and delicious raw salad selves.

Which brings me to last week, when I made THE MOST DELICIOUS RAW (& LEAFLESS) SALAD I’VE HAD IN MONTHS.

It was a simple concoction of some of my favourite things, all tossed together into a vibrant, happy bowl of goodness: fennel, carrots, Marcona almonds, fresh mint, green chilli, orange zest, orange segments, lemon juice, olive oil, salt, and loads of shaved and grated parmesan.

Put the flavour aside for a second. This salad was an absolute joy to make. I shaved everything straight into one bowl, tossed in all the extras, dressed and mixed it right there. Tasted, adjusted, tasted again, all in the same bowl. Once I was happy, I heaped it high onto a platter, and we all tucked in.

Not a word of a lie: it took 10 minutes to pull together.

So, if you’re into very delicious salads, especially ones that (genuinely) require minimal effort, but deliver so, so, SO much flavour and punch, then keep reading. This recipe is very much for you.

SHAVED FENNEL AND CARROT SALAD WITH ORANGE, CHILLI, MINT AND ALMONDS