Recipe | Spring goodness bowl

Use this salad recipe as a base to make it your own with whatever spring veg you have on hand from the garden or your local market. Here I’ve opted for broccolini and Brussels sprouts, but you could easily swap the broccolini for fresh beans, sugar snap or English peas, and the Brussels sprouts for spinach or kale (just make sure you massage the kale leaves with some lemon juice for a minute or two first to soften the leaves until tender).

Similarly, use whatever fresh herbs you have available – dill, basil, tarragon or coriander would all swap in nicely.

Ingredients

100g radishes, sliced thinly with a mandoline

2 tbsp red wine vinegar

1 tsp maple syrup

½ tsp chilli flakes

pinch of sea salt

100g medium bulgur wheat

200g broccolini or purple sprouting broccoli

250g Brussels sprouts, ends trimmed and outer leaves removed

1 fennel bulb, including fronds

2 large handfuls flat-leaf parsley leaves, roughly chopped

1 large handful mint leaves, roughly chopped

2 large oranges

Half quantity of Spring Goodness Dressing

Half quantity of Pistachio & Fennel Dukkah

Method

First pickle the radishes. Place the sliced radishes in a medium bowl with the red wine vinegar, maple syrup, chilli flakes and a pinch of salt. Using your hands, massage the ingredients together so that the vinegar starts to soften and pickle the radishes. Set aside to allow the flavours to combine.

To make the salad, place the bulgur wheat in a large bowl, cover with boiling water and soak for 10 minutes until tender but firm-to-the bite. Drain any excess water, return the bulgur to the bowl and fluff up with a fork. 

Bring a large saucepan of water to the boil, and once bubbling, add the broccolini and cook briefly for two minutes (you want the broccolini to retain some texture). Drain, refresh the broccolini under cold water, drain again, then add to the bulgur wheat. 

Remove the fennel fronds from the fennel bulb and set aside – you will use these later to garnish. Slice the bottom off the fennel bulb and using a mandoline, shave the fennel from the bottom to the top into very thin 1-2mm slices. Add the fennel to the salad bowl. 

Using a mandoline or sharp knife, thinly shred the Brussels sprouts and add to the bowl, along with the chopped herbs. 

Finely grate the zest of one orange and add this to the bowl. Cut the skin off the oranges, removing the outer pith with it, and then cut out the segments, leaving behind the inner pith and membranes. Add the orange segments to the bowl, along with two-thirds of the Spring Goodness Dressing, and toss through to evenly coat. 

Transfer the salad to a large serving platter. Drizzle with the remaining Spring Goodness Dressing, scatter the pickled radishes over the top, and sprinkle generously with some of the Pistachio & Fennel Dukkah. Finish with a scattering of the reserved fennel fronds.

Also try Spring Goodness Spaghetti — another simple, fresh and delicious recipe by Alby Hailes.