Russian red kale salad

Serves 2

· About 200g of Russian red kale- or any kale

· Vegan or regular mayonnaise (homemade or shop bought are fine)

· 1 lemon

· Gherkins

· Capers

· Sweet pickled beetroot. Or cooked beetroot (optional)

· Salt

· Sugar

· Potatoes (about 2 large or 4 new potatoes)

· 2 medium white onions

· Oil

· Black pepper

Method:

Potatoes

1. Preheat the oven to 200°C

2. For the potatoes, clean (or peel) and dice in 1cm chunks. Peel and slice the onions thinly. Mix with a little oil and salt and put into a roasting tray.

3. Roast the potatoes for about 30 minutes, stirring every 5 or so. The potatoes should brown and soften, and the onions will caramelise. Once cooked, leave to cool. Lemon

4. Meanwhile, cut 1 lemon in half (it can be zested first and kept for another recipe.). Heat a small frying pan and place the lemon cut side down. Char (caramelise) the lemon for a couple of minutes.

5. If the lemon still feels hard, put it in the oven for 1-2 minutes with the potatoes. This will soften the lemon, no longer than a few minutes or it will dry out.

6. Once softened and caramelised, leave to cool. Dressing

7. In a bowl add 1 tbs if mayonnaise, 2 tsp of chopped capers and 3 tsp of diced gherkins. If using, add 3 tsp of diced beetroot- add a little of the liquid too for colour.

8. Squeeze the lemon into the mayonnaise- straining through a sieve first.

9. Mix everything together and add plenty of black pepper.

10. It shouldn’t need any salt but add more capers/gherkins if it does. Add more mayonnaise if it’s too lemony.

Kale

11. Wash the kale well.

12. The kale can be quickly steamed or left raw.

13. To eat raw: add 1 tsp of salt and 1tsp of sugar to the kale. In a large bowl of pan ‘massage’ the kale for about 3-5 minutes. It will reduce in volume and the colour will become more vivid. Rinse the kale under cold water and drain.

Mixing

14. Mix the drained kale and salad dressing. Leave it to sit for 5 minutes- this will soften the leaves even more. Top with the crispy potatoes and onions to serve. If steaming the kale, the whole salad can be served warm, with potatoes straight from the oven.