Beetroots are like aubergines! A love or hate thing.
While some people may not like its earthy flavor, I am a huge beets fan and love mixing it with different flavours and textures, either cooked or raw.
A major reason for incorporating them into our diet is that its one of the vegetables we can get here in Germany all year round. The precooked vacuumed roots are so convenient to use, taste incredible and have a long shelf life, making them a perfect ingredient for my weekly salads.
Pre-cooked vs Fresh?
I use the pre-cooked ones for this recipe as they are ready-to-use and convenient.
But this doesn’t mean you can’t make this salad with fresh beets. Just remove the green ends, drizzle with some olive oil and pack in aluminium foil. Bake for ca. 1 hour in the preheated oven at 180C. Remove the peel and theyre the most delicious and nutritious ingredient you can add to your salad.
What else To Add?
The idea is to play with the flavours. Sweet, tangy, bitter and earthy.
- Any greens of your choice! Arugula/rocket gives a nice bitter touch to the sweetness of beets. Raw baby spinach works equally good.
- Same rule for citrus – oranges for the tangy hint and grapefruit for the bitterness.
- Pine nuts add a nice crunchy texture and nutty flavour. If you want, you can also replace these with walnuts or toasted slivered almonds.
A step-by-step video tutorial is available in my Insta highlights. Do have a look before you start making the salad! Come back to rate the recipe and if convenient, do send me a photo of your remake. I love receiving your feedback!
More Salad Recipes From Chef on Rhine:
Citrus and Beet Salad with Pine Nuts
Ingredients
- 500 g precooked beets see notes
- 1 grapefruit cut into segments
- 2 orange cut into segments
- 1-2 cup loosely packed rocket salad
- 1/2 cup toasted pine nuts
Vinaigrette
- 3 Tbsp extra-virgin olive oil
- 1 Tbsp vinegar
- 1 Tbsp honey
- salt
- pepper
Instructions
- Combine all the ingredients for the vinaigrette in a small bowl.
- Cut beets into thin slices. Toss with half of dressing in a large bowl.
- Arrange washed and dried rocket salad leaves in a large serving platter. Add the beets layer.
- Arrange grapefruit, oranges. Drizzle remaining dressing. Top with toasted pine nuts.
Notes
- The vacuumed precooked beets can be replaced with fresh beetroots. Scrub the beets thoroughly, then wrap them loosely in aluminum foil. No need to dry the beets before wrapping. Bake in preheated oven at 180 C for ca. 1 hr.
Have never imagined beetroot can become such a dominant entree on the dining table with this blend of tangy and sweet flavors, and eye catching presence, it becomes the show stopper.
Beautiful colored salad….I really like Beetroot and the combination of sweetness and citrus make this salad really different and delicious…