Spiced Beetroot Salad

I just love beetroot.  The flavour of fresh beets from the ground can’t be beaten, so earthy and sweet, and the colour is just so gorgeous.When the boy was a baby it was a daring experience feeding him beetroot and we have many good pics of a pink stained bub (and house) to remember it by – straight in the bath afterwards!  This is just one beetroot salad I like to make.  Add feta (Dodoni of course – doesn’t it go with everything?!) or goats cheese and some walnuts or pine nuts for a bit of variation.  More beetroot recipes coming this way soon..

Ingredients

4 x 250g beetroot

⅓ cup extra virgin olive oil

1½ tbsp white wine vinegar

1 tbsp lemon juice

1½ tsp ground cumin

a pinch of ground allspice

2 garlic cloves, crushed

1 handful coriander leaves, shredded

1 large handful parsley, shredded

Method

Trim each beetroot, leaving about 2cm of stem attached.  Place in a large saucepan and cover well with water.  Bring to the boil over high heat and cook for 1 hour, or until tender all the way through when pierced with the tip of a sharp knife.  Remove from the heat and leave the beetroot in the cooking liquid to cool to room temperature.  (Refrigerate the beetroot in the cooking liquid if you’re not using it straight away.)

Meanwhile, make the dressing.  Combine the olive oil, vinegar, lemon juice, cumin, allspice and garlic in a small bowl and whisk together well.  Stir in the herbs.  Season to taste with salt and freshly ground black pepper and set aside for 20 minutes for the flavours to develop.

Drain and peel the beetroot and cut into wedges.  Toss with the dressing and serve.

Serves 6-8