Recipe: Cavolo nero, apple and sunflower seed salad

This Italian dark leafy green comes into its own in the cooler months, and makes a delicious autumn/winter salad with apple and sunflower seeds. 

Now that the weather has cooled and the white butterflies have finally disappeared, my cavolo nero has bounced back to life and is producing more green-blue leaves than we know what to do with. I get such a buzz from walking out into the garden while I’m cooking dinner and picking a large bunch of it to go with the evening meal. More often than not we eat it raw, and when paired with apple and sunflower seeds as in the recipe below, it is just delicious. It makes a wonderful accompaniment to the meatball recipe I shared last week.

CAVOLO NERO, APPLE & SUNFLOWER SEED SALAD

Serves 4-6

• 250g cavolo nero or kale, stems removed, shredded
• 2 medium-sized apples, cut into matchsticks
• 55g sunflower seeds, toasted
• 45g parmesan cheese, shaved
• olive oil, to serve
• red wine vinegar, to serve

Arrange the cavolo nero, apple and sunflower seeds in a salad bowl, scatter over the parmesan cheese, drizzle with olive oil and red wine vinegar and season with sea salt and freshly ground black pepper.