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Blood Orange, Beetroot and Rocket Salad

Our freshly dug organic beetroot and rocket leaves are available for sale in our Farm Shop at the Cookery School.

Serves 6

450g/1 lb small beetroot

225g/8 ozs sugar

475ml/16 fl ozs water

225ml/8 fl ozs wine vinegar

3-4 blood oranges

Dressing

1 small shallot, very finely diced

1 teaspoon Balsamic vinegar

3 tablespoons/4 American tablespoons Extra Virgin Olive Oil

Sea salt and freshly ground pepper

4 small fist-fulls of Rocket leaves

24 fresh walnut halves

Trim the beetroot leaves about 2 inches (5cm) above the root, do not trim the tail. Wash the beetroot gently under cold running water, rub off any clay with your hands but do not scrub because this could damage the skins which would result in the roots bleeding during cooking. Put into a saucepan, cover with cold water, add a little salt, bring to the boil and cook for 15-20 minutes depending on the size.

Meanwhile dissolve the sugar in water, bring to the boil and add the vinegar and keep aside. When the beetroot are cooked the skin will slip off easily. Wear gloves for this operation if you are vain!

Cool or cool first and then slice into rounds and add to the pickle.

Meanwhile make the dressing. Grate the zest from 1 orange on the finest part of the grater. Put in a bowl with the finely chopped shallot and juice of « orange. Whisk in the oil and vinegar. Season with salt and freshly ground pepper. It should taste nice and perky. Cut all the zest and peel off the remainder of the oranges and cut into thin slices.

To serve.

Divide the rocket leaves between the four plates. Top with some beetroot and blood orange slices rather haphazardly arranged. Scatter with walnut halves. Drizzle a little dressing over each salad and serve immediately.

This is a recipe by
Darina Allen
View all my recipes

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