Apple & Fennel Salad

This is a truly beautiful salad with bright green hues. Use the best and freshest ingredients you can lay your hands on, and think of it as a wonderful pick-me-up before a more indulgent meal.

Serves 4–6

  • 100g walnut halves
  • juice of 1 lemon
  • 1 tsp raw Irish honey
  • 4 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
  • 1 fennel bulb or 200g baby fennel
  • 3 Granny Smith apples
  • 3 celery stalks
  • handful fresh dill sprigs (optional)
  • sea salt and freshly ground white
  • pepper

Toast the walnut halves in a heavy-based frying pan over a medium heat, tossing regularly.
Tip on to a chopping board and coarsely chop. Put the lemon juice, honey and olive oil in a screw-topped jar, and season generously with salt and pepper.

Shake until well emulsified. Using a mandolin or a sharp knife, thinly slice the fennel. Cut the apples into quarters, then remove the cores and thinly slice. Peel the celery along its ridges, then trim and thinly slice. Add the fennel, apple and celery to a large bowl.

Give the dressing another good shake and drizzle on top. Toss until coated, then transfer to a serving bowl or platter. Scatter over the walnuts and the dill sprigs, if liked, to serve.


House Salad with Amelda's Dressing

This 'anytime salad’ is fresh, vibrant and packed full of the very best of home-grown produce. It’s named after my wife Amelda, who always makes the dressing in our house.
The tangy dressing with a hint of sweetness will bring these simple vegetables to life. I like to use my hands to toss a salad to ensure I don’t damage or bruise the delicate butterhead lettuce leaves.

Serves 4

For the dressing

  • 1 tbsp apple cider vinegar
  • 1 small garlic clove, crushed
  • 1 tbsp Dijon mustard
  • pinch of sugar
  • 4 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
  • 1 tbsp snipped fresh chives
  • 1 tbsp chopped mint, plus extra
  • leaves to serve
  • For the salad
  • 2 butterhead lettuces
  • ¼ cucumber, halved and cut into
  • wafer-thin slices
  • 100g cherry tomatoes on the vine,
  • halved
  • 4 radishes, thinly sliced
  • 1 tbsp rinsed capers
  • sea salt and freshly ground black
  • pepper

First, make the dressing: put the vinegar in a screw-topped jar with the garlic, mustard and sugar, and season generously. Shake to dissolve, then add the oil, chives and mint, and shake again to form an emulsion. Remove the outer leaves from the lettuce, then roughly tear them up.

Drizzle the salad dressing along the walls of your bowl, then add the lettuce leaves, season with salt and pepper, and lightly toss until the dressing is evenly distributed. Add in the cucumber, cherry tomatoes, radishes and capers, then lightly toss again. Tear over some mint leaves to serve.

Pickled Red Onions

This recipe might be simple, but it has layers. Pickling transforms raw red onions from pungent and crunchy to irresistibly tangy. These pickles are the perfect condiment for almost anything, and I find myself using them a lot.

Makes 600ml jar

  • 400ml apple cider vinegar
  • 4 tbsp caster sugar
  • 4 tsp sea salt flakes
  • 1 tsp mixed peppercorns
  • 1 star anise
  • 2 fresh thyme sprigs
  • 4 small red onions, halved and sliced
  • into rings

Pour the vinegar into a pan and add the sugar, salt, spices and thyme.
Bring to a simmer, stirring for 1 minute until the sugar and salt have dissolved. Remove from the heat. Put the sliced onions in a sieve and pour over a whole kettle of boiling water.

Drain well and tip on to kitchen paper to remove any excess water. When cool enough to handle, pack into a clean 600ml jar and pour over the warm flavoured vinegar. Leave to cool completely and pickle for at least 2 hours. This will keep for up to 3 months unopened; once opened, keep in the fridge and use within 2 weeks.