Nigella's three seasonal salads

Red salad
This is a fantastic fall-back not least because it’s a speedy, low-effort way to turn something as basic as cold meat or baked potato into a substantial supper. Indeed, you could fork a little best-quality drained, canned tuna straight in and be done. However, even as someone as far from the vegetarian end of the spectrum as could be, I am more than happy to have this, quite simply, as is.

Ingredients

• 2 x 400g cans red kidney beans
• 1 red onion, peeled and finely chopped
• 4 teaspoons good-quality red wine vinegar
• 250g cherry tomatoes
• 2 x 15ml tablespoons extra virgin olive oil a few tablespoons finely chopped parsley (optional)

Directions
1 Drain and rinse the kidney beans in a colander to get rid of the dark sludge from the tins, then rinse again and put into a serving bowl or dish.

2 Put the chopped onion into a small bowl and pour over the vinegar. Leave to macerate for at least 15 minutes and up to 2 hours.

3 Halve the cherry tomatoes and put them into the serving bowl.
Now tip in the macerated onions and toss through the beans and tomatoes.

4 Drizzle over the oil and toss again, sprinkling with some parsley if you want; I like the way its greenness brings out the red.

Tip: Make the salad, without adding the tomatoes, up to 1 day ahead. Cover and keep cool. Add the tomatoes and parsley (if using), about 1 hour before serving.

Makes 8 servings.

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Excerpted from Nigella Christmas: Food, Family, Friends, Festivities with permission by Knopf Books. All rights reserved. No part of this excerpt may be reproduced or reprinted without permission in writing from the publisher.