Beating high blood pressure with pork and pear salad with pecans

This is a simple yet substantial salad with lots of interesting ingredients that you wouldn't ordinarily think of combining. The dressing is delicately flavoured with ginger juice, squeezed from fresh ginger. There are a lot of healthy ingredients in this tasty recipe, so you'll want to bring it out again and again.

Preparation time 35 minutes

Serves 4

Salad

• 50 g (2 oz) pecans
• 1 kg (2 lb) new potatoes, scrubbed
• 110 g (4 oz) radishes, cut into quarters
• 2 pears
• 1 head red leaf lettuce, separated into leaves
• 500 g (2 c) watercress, tough stalks discarded
• 350 g (12 oz) cooked roast pork loin, fat removed and thinly sliced

Dressing

• 2.5-cm (1-inch) piece peeled ginger
• 10 ml (2 tsp) coarse mustard
• 10 ml (2 tsp) white wine vinegar
• 30 ml (2 tbsp) olive oil
• 10 ml (2 tsp) hazelnut oil
• Pepper to taste

1. Heat a skillet and toast the pecans over a moderate heat for 6 to 7 minutes. Cool, then chop roughly. Set aside.

2. Cook the potatoes in a pot of boiling water until tender, about 15 minutes. Drain. When cool enough to handle, cut into quarters and place in a mixing bowl.

3. To make the dressing, first put the ginger in a garlic crusher and press to squeeze out the juice (this will have to be done in 3 or 4 batches). You need 10 millilitres (2 teaspoons) of this ginger juice. Put the ginger juice, mustard, vinegar, olive and hazelnut oils, and pepper to taste in a screw-top jar. Shake well to mix. Pour about one-third of the dressing over the warm potatoes and toss gently to coat. Let cool.

4. Meanwhile, in another bowl, toss the radishes with half of the remaining dressing, to prevent them from browning. Halve the pears lengthwise and scoop out the cores, then cut into long wedges. Toss with the radishes.

5. Arrange the lettuce leaves and watercress in a shallow salad bowl. Add the radish mixture to the potatoes and gently mix together. Pile onto the middle of the salad leaves, and arrange the pork slices on top.

6. Stir the toasted pecans into the remaining dressing and drizzle over the top of the salad. Serve immediately.

• Instead of pears, use other fresh fruit, such as 2 peaches or 4 apricots.

Pork and Apple Salad with Hazelnuts: Replace the pears with red-skinned apples. Add 2 carrots, cut into matchstick strips. Finish with toasted hazelnuts instead of pecans.

Radishes offer useful amounts of fibre and vitamin C and, in common with other members of the cruciferous family, they contain phytochemicals that may help to protect against cancer. Most of the enzymes responsible for their hot taste are found in the skin. If you find the taste overpowering, peeling will help to reduce the heat.

Each serving provides:

Key nutrients: 590 Calories, 260 Calories from Fat, 29 g Fat, 5 g Saturated Fat, 0 g Trans Fat, 31 g Protein, 54 g Carb, 11 g Fibre, 80 mg Sodium

Blood pressure nutrients: 73 mg Vitamin C, 106 mg Magnesium, 1721 mg Potassium, 125 mg Calcium