• Recipes: Karen Martini's old favourites remastered

I love the crunchy sweetness of raw beetroot, and, if you haven't tried it before, raw kohlrabi is a bit of a revelation. They both work particularly well with this egg-free mayonnaise that is given earthy weight by the peanut butter and a subtle tweak of sourness from the umeboshi. This salad can be taken a step further by adding a handful of shredded shiso, Thai basil, coriander or mint. The key to this salad is shaving the vegetables very finely, so unless you particularly like to show off your knife skills, use a mandoline. Every domestic kitchen should have one, pretty much every commercial kitchen does. Combine and dress this salad just before serving, otherwise the beetroot will bleed and affect the presentation.

4 striped baby beetroots

¼ white cabbage, finely shaved

1 kohlrabi, peeled, cut in half and finely shaved

2 carrots, finely sliced

5 spring onions, white part only, finely sliced

2 long red chillies, finely sliced

salt flakes

1 tbsp poppy seeds

2 tbsp chopped roasted peanuts

Tofu and peanut mayonnaise

200g silken tofu

80ml grapeseed oil (or other neutral oil)

3 tbsp honey

2 tbsp apple cider vinegar

2 heaped tbsp salted smooth peanut butter

1 tbsp umeboshi puree

1 tbsp dijon mustard

2 tsp miso paste

1. For the tofu mayonnaise, add all the ingredients to a blender or food processor and process until smooth.

2. Trim the beetroots, leaving two to three centimetres of stalk attached. Scrub and wash well, being sure to dislodge any dirt trapped in the stalks. Finely slice lengthways on a mandoline and add to a large bowl with the cabbage, kohlrabi, carrot, spring onion and chilli. Season with salt, scatter on the poppy seeds, tip over the dressing and toss to combine.

3. Pile the salad into a serving bowl, scatter over the peanuts and serve immediately.

Serves 6–8

Umeboshi

​Umeboshi are salted and pickled Japanese plums. Well, the ume fruit are not actually plums as such, but rather have genetic links to both plums and apricots. Traditionally, their uses were medicinal rather than culinary, but today they very much take their place on the table. I love the salty and sour qualities of umeboshi, and I often use the puree to tweak dressings and sauces.

Edited extract from Karen Martini's New Kitchen, Pan Macmillan, $44.99