Winter salads for your next work lunch from a Melbourne-based chef
WORDS BY FRANKIE COX
Nourishing salads for the cooler months.
Frankie Cox is the chef and owner of Richmond salad bar, Green On. Below, she shares three of her favourite winter salads (yes, that can be a thing!) that are perfect for your next work lunch.
In the cooler months, I naturally gravitate towards more warm and hearty ingredients. In our first winter at Green On, people weren’t sure if a salad was going to be able to carry them through.
Then, they quickly discovered that not all salads need to be light and leafy – some are heartier and soul-hugging. Winter’s chill demands a lot more satisfaction from our food. We lean into the hearty grains, roast veggies and more rounded flavour profiles (think less acid, more creamy).
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As always, I’m all about changing up my daily intake of plants as much as possible, so here are three salads I love having in my rotation to keep things exciting, satisfying, and most importantly, nourishing. All of these salads are one-serve and plant-based but you can always make a bigger serve and add your go-to protein.
Spinach, sorghum, harissa roasted cauliflower, swiss chard, chickpeas, almonds, tahini and green goddess dressing
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The earthy tones and the moreish spices make this salad feel deeply grounding. When you get to a piece of harissa roasted cauliflower, you feel like you’re going to melt into the bowl. The pop of the sorghum and the crunch of the almonds make you keep digging back in for more. I’m also an absolute sucker for the tahini/green goddess combo.
Assembling the salad
1 handful spinach
1 cup sorghum, cooked
1/2 cup harissa roasted cauliflower
⅓ cup swiss chard
⅓ cup chickpeas
1 tbsp toasted almonds
Green goddess dressing
Combine everything in a mixing bowl with as much or as little dressing as you like. Season with salt. Plate it up in your favourite bowl and enjoy!
Cooking notes
Sorghum: Our beloved gluten-free grain. It can be quite hard to find so feel free to substitute it with any large ‘poppy’ kind of grain. Moghrabieh would also be great. Cook the sorghum in a pot of gently boiling water for 90 minutes. Shut off the heat and salt the water.
Let it sit for five minutes before straining. DO NOT salt your water when cooking grains. Salt slows down the cooking process and won’t allow the grains to cook evenly. So unless you want crunchy grains in five hours, no salt!
Harissa roasted cauliflower: Cut the head into florets and shred the leaves (don’t throw them out!). Toss with oil, dry harissa spice and salt. Lay out on an oven tray and roast at 200C for 30 minutes.
Swiss chard: Shred the whole thing, stalks and leaves. Bring a pot of salted water to a boil and blanch for five minutes. Strain and toss with olive oil and lemon.
Chickpeas: We soak and cook our chickpeas but if you don’t have time, you can use canned. Just make sure they’re organic and give them a really good rinse!
Green goddess dressing
½ bunch parsley, wash and dried
½ bunch coriander, wash and dried
⅓ bunch dill, wash and dried
2 cm knob ginger, peeled, roughly chopped (keep the peel for ginger tea)
1 tsp dijon mustard
¼ cup apple cider vinegar
1 cup extra virgin olive oil
Throw everything into a blender or food processor, or use a stick blender and blend until smooth but so you can still see flecks of the herbs. Store in an airtight container for up to two weeks in the fridge. This is a more zingy style of green goddess dressing but if you want to make it creamy, add some tahini.
Rocket, barley, sweet potato, broccoli, spring onions, walnuts and pesto dressing
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This salad is light but hearty. The contrast of the peppery rocket, crunchy yet creamy walnuts, and sweetness of the sweet potato create a beautifully balanced foundation. Broccoli is here because I love the way the florets soak up the dressing. Spring onions add another dimension and the pesto dressing brings everything home.
Assembling the salad
1 handful of rocket
1 cup barley, cooked
⅓ cup roasted sweet potato
½ cup broccoli, blanched
1 tbs spring onion, finely sliced
1 tbs walnuts, toasted
Pesto dressing
Mix everything together in a mixing bowl with as much or as little dressing as you like. Season with salt. Plate it up in your favourite bowl and enjoy!
Cooking notes
Barley: Cook the barley in a pot of gently boiling water for 45 minutes. Shut off the heat and salt the water. Let it sit for five minutes before straining.
Roasted sweet potato: Cut the sweet potato into even-sized pieces. The smaller the pieces, the faster they’ll cook. Toss with olive oil and salt and lay out on an oven tray. Roast at 200C for approximately 30 minutes or until tender all the way through.
Broccoli: Cut head into florets. Stalk: Cut off the tough outer skin and discard. Dice the juicy inner flesh into even-sized pieces. Blanch in salted boiling water for four minutes and strain.
Pesto dressing
1 bunch basil, picked
1 handful of rocket
1 clove garlic, roughly chopped
400ml olive oil
½ cup toasted walnuts
150ml lemon juice
Place the basil, rocket, garlic and oil into a blender, or food processor, or use a stick blender and blend until still a bit chunky. Add the walnuts and lemon juice and pulse until the walnuts have broken down to your desired texture. Taste and adjust if necessary. You can add more lemon if you like. Store in an airtight container for up to a week.
Mixed leaves, lentils, beetroot, shaved red cabbage, parsley, avocado, pumpkin seeds and house vinaigrette
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This one is the lightest of the three and another of my go-to’s when I need a good kick of acid and a boost of antioxidants. Mixed leaves are a great way to get as many different plants into one meal as possible. Each leaf has varying nutritional properties, so every leaf counts! The fattiness of the avocado keeps me sustained and satisfied and pumpkin seeds are always a good idea.
Assembling the salad
1 handful of mixed leaves
1 cup French green lentils, cooked
1 beetroot, grated
¼ red cabbage, shredded/shaved
Pinch of parsley, roughly chopped
½ an avocado, large diced
1 tbsp toasted pumpkin seeds
House vinaigrette
Cooking notes
Lentils: Cook the lentils in a pot of gently boiling water for 30 minutes. Shut off the heat and salt the water. Let it sit for five minutes before straining. Rinse with cold water.
House vinaigrette
One tbsp dijon mustard
⅓ cup apple cider vinegar
1 cup olive oil
Combine all the ingredients into a jar and shake until nice and creamy. Store for up to two weeks in the fridge.
Find out more about Green On here.
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