I recently posted about the heirloom beetroot that I have been growing and harvesting in my vegie patch. It has been a thrill to pull out golden beetroot, and purple and yellow carrotts as they become ready to pick. If you grow your own vegies sometimes you wonder what on earth your going to do with all this produce.

There is only so much you can preserve, so I thought I would post a recipe with one of the ways you can use your freshly picked beetroot. It looks a little bit fancy but it's really simple to make and you only need a handful of ingredients to whip it up. It would really make an impressive entree at your next dinner party or a simple sunday lunch, or evening meal with the family!

I know it is still winter and not really salad season but I would call this a late winter salad (since spring is so near) - the beets are served warm and on a bright and sunny winter's day - I don't think you can get anymore simple and satisfying than this. If you want something a bit more sustaining the addition of some grilled or tinned salmon or leftover roast chicken would work well in this.

There is something about eating your freshly picked produce - like eating it within 45 minutes of picking it. I Don't think the supermarkets can "beet" (get it? beet = beat - yeah bad joke i know) you in that regard. I recently walked through the vegie section of our local supermarket. I picked up some baby beetroot they had for sale and it was a limp as..... well I don't really have anything to compare it to but it didn't look fresh to me. The bulb was soft and wrinkly and the leaves were so droopy and tired looking. I know... it looked like it had a bad case of jet lag wherever it came from.

Fresh beetroot should have glossy, fresh looking leaves that are strong and upright and firm bulb to touch - no wrinkles! Keep an eye out for some beetroot at your local farmers market, you don't need baby beetroot for this - normal size is fine but the baby beetroot does have a much sweeter flavour.

Heirloom Beetroot, Goat's Cheese & Waltnut Salad

{Download & Print Recipe}

Serves 4 As a side

Ingredients:

4 x medium Beetroot (Golden, Detroit Red etc)

1 cup Rocket

1 cup Baby Spinach

¼ cup Walnuts

100g Goats Feta

3 Tbsp Caper berries, rinsed, stalks removed

Orange Thyme Vinaigrette:

½ Tsp Orange Zest

Juice of 1 Orange

½ Tsp fresh Thyme, finely chopped

2 Tbsp Extra Virgin Olive Oil

1 Tsp Dijon Mustard

1 Tbsp Apple Cider Vinegar

Method:

Preheat oven to 180 degrees Celsius. Place washed beetroot on a tray (skin still on) and drizzle with a little olive oil. Place in oven and cook for 40-50 minutes until tender. Remove from oven, cool and remove skins. Cut into cubes and set aside.

In a small saucepan place walnuts and dry fry until brown. Remove and roughly chop and set aside.

For the dressing in a bowl add zest, juice, thyme, mustard and vinegar. Add olive oil in a thin stream and whisk until emulsified.

Combine baby spinach and rocket in a bowl and place mounds of it on serving plates. Gently scatter the beetroot, walnuts, goat’s cheese and caper berries over the spinach and rocket. Drizzle with vinaigrette.

This salad would also work great in the summer BBQ season severd cold with a good medium rare steak! Yum. Oh I am counting down the days until spring arrives. I really do hate winter and am sick of wearing jumpers and jeans - bring on the strappy tops and shorts.

Winner.....

Now for the winner of the "Leftover Makeover" cookbook giveaway,......

Drum roll........

Congratulations Madeline. If you want to email me at diaryofwhimsicalwife@gmail.com with your address so I can post out the cookbook to you.

Thanks to everyone who left a comment. Stay tuned for the Feature Friday giveway!