Salad for breakfast

Yep, breakfast salad. Vibrant ruby grapefruit and crisp apple matchsticks drizzled with fresh-pressed ginger juice, a squeeze of lemon, barley malt syrup and chia seeds. On top of a day-old pancake. With some almond-soy yoghurt for creaminess. Not a bad way to start the day, friends. As usual, work with what you have on hand: the barley malt syrup can be substituted with maple/agave/chopped dates or whatever sweetener is lurking in your pantry. And this salad can be turned into an elegant savoury starter or light meal: use fewer apples, and instead of drizzling, add a little of the barley syrup to a dressing with the ginger juice, a dash of sesame oil, a little soy sauce… Serve on a bed of seasonal greens with several generous twists of freshly ground black pepper and some toasted walnuts instead of the chia.

Point is: play with your salad! Have it for breakfast, lunch, snack or dinner, throw unexpected ingredients at it and work with the seasons. Winter salads offer a refreshing interlude to heartier fare this time of year: lettuce, tomato and cucumber are out but try raw grated beetroot or parsnip, kohlrabi carpaccio, massaged kale, shredded brussels sprouts…