Salad does not need to be ordinary or bland. This recipe challenges the norms in a satisfyingly delicious manner: combining fruit and vegetables, warm and cold, cooked and warm.
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Ingredients
For the salad:
400 g rainbow beetroot, cooked till soft and sliced
300 g butternut, cubed
3 small baby marrow, sliced into 3 cm pieces
1 red onion
1 cup cous cous
1 tsp salt
½ tsp cumin
2 naartjies, skinned and sliced
1 orange, skinned and sliced
1 grapefruit, skinned and sliced
1 tbsp
For the Pesto:
2 cups rocket, tightly packed into the cup
½ cup extra virgin olive oil
½ cup cashew nuts
2 cloves of garlic
½ tbsp lemon juice
3 tbsp nutritional yeast (optional)
For the beetroot dressing:
3 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
1 cup cous cous
Herbs or sprouts for garnishing.
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 180 ℃.
- Place the butternut, onion, and baby marrow on a roasting tray and drizzle with one tablespoon of the olive oil and ½ tsp of salt.
- Roast for 30-35 minutes or until the veggies start to crisp up on the edges.
- While the vegetables are roasting, add the cous cous to a bowl. Add one cup of boiling water and ½ tsp of salt and ½ tsp of cumin to the cous cous. Cover with a lid or cling film until the water has absorbed into the cous cous. Once absorbed fluff the cous cous with a fork until separated. Keep aside.
- Make the rocket pesto. Blend all of the ingredients for this in a blender until smooth. You can keep the pesto in the fridge for up to two weeks.
- Make the dressing. Mix all the ingredients for the dressing in a bowl with a whisk. Keep aside until ready to serve.
- Remove the roasted vegetables from the oven.
- To assemble, spread some of the pesto on the bottom of a salad platter. Top with the cous cous and layer with the vegetables, citrus fruit and beetroot. Drizzle with beetroot dressing and then sprinkle some herbs or sprouts on top.
- Serve immediately while still warm.
