Winter pick-me-up: try this beautiful beetroot salad recipe

In the depths of winter, we often gravitate towards comfort food, sometimes at the expense of our vegetable intake.  So, we caught up with someone who knows all about good fruit and vegetables, Jenny Smith from Foodbox, to get one of her favourite winter salad recipes. 

Try Jenny’s colourful, fresh and fantastic beetroot salad. Roast beetroot and feta give a hearty feel, but it’s packed with leafy greens, oranges and avocado and delivers a serious vegetable boost! 

Jenny’s beautiful beetroot salad

Prep time: 5 minutes
Cook time: 30 minutes 

Makes: 1 large bowl

Ingredients

• 2 beetroot, peeled, chopped and roasted until soft (around 30 minutes)
• Half a bag of spinach (75 grams), you can also swap spinach for baby silverbeet or lettuce, if using silverbeet, toss the leaves in olive oil to soften and reduce bitterness
• Fresh coriander
• 2 oranges
• 50 grams feta
• A handful of walnuts
• 1 avocado

Transform this salad into a full vegetarian meal with these optional extras: 

• Cucumber
• Hummus 
• Falafel
• Lemon or orange-based vinaigrette (Jenny’s recipe is available here)

Method

1. Peel, chop and roast the beetroot at 200°C for around 30 minutes, or until it’s soft
2. Peel and dice the oranges, rinse the green, chop the avocado 
3. Roast walnuts in the oven for five minutes with the beetroot at 200°C 
4. Fry falafel if using these
5. When the beetroot is cooked, combine with the greens, oranges, avocado, and walnuts in a large bowl
6. Crumble feta over the top 
7. Tear coriander and sprinkle over the salad
8. Drizzle the vinaigrette over the bowl.

Serving suggestions

As a full vegetarian meal, serve with falafel, hummus and natural yoghurt and cucumber on the side. It also pairs well with red meats, particularly lamb. Or, eat it on its own as a veggie-packed lunch option.

Benefits of beetroot

Did you know beetroot is an excellent source of folic acid and fibre? And you can eat the leaves too! They’re rich in iron and calcium.