Wednesday, July 8, 2009

Roasted Beetroot, Sweet Potato and Caramelised Onion Salad



This is a wonderfully warm salad and a sure-fire winter treat served simply on its own straight from the oven, or sprinkle a handful of baby spinach on top if you like. The earthy flavours of the beetroot, caramelised onions and sweet potato also provide the perfect compliment alongside a hearty slow braise or roast. I especially love leaving the skins on the sweet potato, it infuses a gorgeous mellow sweet flavour reminiscent of rose hips.



Serves 4
Cooking time: 1 hour 20 mins

Ingredients:1 bunch medium sized beetroots (600g), trimmed; 1 medium sized (400g) purple sweet potato, leave skin on, cut into 2 cm wedges; 4-5 red onions, peeled and sliced into long arcs; 50 mls olive oil; 3-4 stems fresh rosemary, spindles removed; 1 tblsp sea salt; Freshly ground black pepper; ½ cup toasted walnuts; Garlic-Lemon Olive Oil Salad Dressing (click link for recipe)



Method: Preheat oven to 180°C. Wrap beetroots individually in foil. Place on a baking tray and bake for 1 hour 20 minutes or until tender. On a separate tray place sweet potato, onions and garlic bulbs, drizzle with olive oil and season well with salt and pepper. Scatter over rosemary, cover with foil and place in oven along with beetroots for an hour or until soft. (Beetroot can be tested with a skewer, cooked when soft in the middle)

Remove the foil and peel off the skin of the beetroots. The skin slips off easily when hot, just work quickly to avoid burning your fingers. Slice each beetroot into quarters and then halve those quarters so they aren’t too big. Allow the vegetables to cool for about 5 – 8 mins. To serve scatter a platter with the caramelised onions, and then place sweet potato and beetroot slices on top, alternating them. Finally top with the toasted walnuts and drizzle with the garlic-lemon olive oil dressing.

1 comment:

Maude G Abraham said...

Meg... Just made this scrumptious dish!! tastes lovely.. Could do with some pine nuts though!!