Apple, Carrot & Chinese Cabbage Salad with Vietnamese dressing

Apple, Carrot & Chinese Cabbage salad

Fall in love with this Asian-inspired apple carrot salad recipe infused with coriander and limes

To celebrate National Apple Day this month, this salad recipe uses British apples as it's central ingredient.  I have chosen Jazz apples as they are tangy and crunchy.  To balance out the sweetness, carrots and Chinese cabbage, a crisp mild tasting, pale leaved cabbage (also known as Wombok), are added to it.

The dressing is inspired by the Vietnamese dipping sauce, Nước chấm, which combines the flavours of fish sauce, limes, vinegar and sugar with garlic and chilli.  A crunchy topping of fried shallots, is thrown over the salad, just before serving.

Harvesting Apples in October!

October is a time when fruit is plentiful in our garden.  Apples are never in short supply, and our sole humble apple tree produces more than enough fruit for the two of us.  It is a special feeling to be picking home-grown fruit straight off the tree or from the ground and it never ceases to amaze me just how many large lovely apples there are.

The challenge is trying to find clever ways of preserving the fruit so that none of it goes to waste.  We are storing boxes of apples in our rather cold garage - the old saying about "one bad apple" springs to mind so I am making sure that no apple touches another to ensure longevity.  Easier said that done, when there are four boxes full of apples and limited space in our garage.