Beetroot Walnut Salad
An Original Recipe by Lorraine Elliott/Not Quite Nigella
Serves 4 as part of a main meal
Preparation time: 20 minutes
Cooking time: 1 hour
- 6 medium or 4 extra large beetroots, scrubbed clean
- Small bunch of kale
- half bunch of wild rocket, chopped in half
- Oil for drizzling
- 1/2 cup chopped toasted walnuts
- 150g/5oz. goats cheese log, sliced
- Juice of 1 blood orange
- 1-2 teaspoons honey
- 1/4 cup extra virgin olive oil
- 4 tablespoons puffed quinoa
- Salt and pepper
Step 1 - Preheat oven to 190C/380F and line a baking tray with a large sheet of foil. Cut the beetroots in halves or quarters (if they're really big, I bought 4 enormous monsters which equalled 6 medium ones) and place in foil. Drizzle with some oil and wrap up as a bundle and roast for 45 minutes to an hour until the pieces are tender. Remove from the oven and allow to become cool enough to handle.
Step 2 - Meanwhile, wash and dry the kale and strip off the leaves and place in a bowl. Add 2 tablespoons oil and a fat pinch of salt and mix with your hands. Place on a baking tray and bake in a 200C/400F oven for 10 minutes or until crispy (turn the kale leaves over if you need to).
Step 3 - Remove the skin from the beetroot and cut into bite sized pieces. Mix the blood orange juice, honey a pinch of salt and black pepper. Add 1 teaspoon of honey and taste-if you have a bitter olive oil you may need an extra teaspoon. Place the beetroot, kale, walnuts and goat's cheese in a bowl and add the dressing and toss gently. Add the puffed quinoa and season with salt and pepper.
Tip: it's best to add the kale, walnuts and puffed quinoa just before serving so that they're still crunchy.