Roast Beetroot with Citrus Dressing
It's definitely winter, you can tell by the half a foot of snow outside, time to start on the winter menu. The starter for the winter menu is roast beetroot with citrus dressing and this one seems to be totally vegan as well as having no nuts or wheat.
I got the beetroot from Dad when I went home for Christmas which was just as well because I couldn't see any beetroot in the supermarket when I went. And since it's Dad's beetroot it must be nicer than any supermarket beetroot anyway.
The other thing that I had trouble getting for the recipe was fresh chervil. I didn't really expect the supermarket to have any because I hadn't seen any there before. I checked the growing season for it and it seems to run from May to September so I wasn't likely to get any if if they did usually have it in the season. It seems a bit odd that this is supposed to be a winter recipe but one of the ingredients is one that stops being available after September which is barely into autumn. Anyway, in the absence of chervil I used dried fines herbs which chervil is often a component of, though it's supposed to lose a lot of it's flavour when it's dried.
The recipe itself wasn't too difficult but it did take a while to do. The beetroots are roasted with garlic and thyme(though I didn't get thyme; because of course I would have thyme; because I always have thyme; except that I didn't have thyme; so I made do without the thyme) for one and a half hours before peeling them. Mmm, freshly roasted beetroot straight from the oven! I may have eaten more of the beetroot at this point than I should have. Then the beetroot is put into the dressing, which itself needs to be left for half an hour though this can be done while the beetroot is roasting, and left for somewhere up to a day in the fridge.
In terms of difficulty, the beetroot was a little difficult to peel, the skin is supposed to come straight off after roasting but it actually took a bit of coaxing and they are quite hot when just out of the oven.
The dressing was reasonably easy to do, not quite a matter of just mixing the ingredients because the shallot is left to soak in the vinegar, orange and lemon juice for a while before whisking in the olive oil. And the orange and lemon peel is added afterwards, presumably so it doesn't get mangled when whisking in the oil.
After that it was just a question of leaving the beetroot in the dressing to soak it up. I made it yesterday evening and had it for lunch so it was left for just under a day.
After eating the roast beetroot straight from the oven I was doubtful that the dressing would improve on that but it was very nice. Roast beetroot is great straight from the oven but you can't always have it straight from the oven can you? This recipe is great for any of that roast beetroot that you have that isn't straight from the oven. The citrus dressing counteracts the beetroot somewhat so some of its flavour is lost but it complements the earthy flavour of beetroot really well and the combination is very nice.
If I'm looking for something to do with beetroot this is one that I would definitely consider doing again.
I got the beetroot from Dad when I went home for Christmas which was just as well because I couldn't see any beetroot in the supermarket when I went. And since it's Dad's beetroot it must be nicer than any supermarket beetroot anyway.
The other thing that I had trouble getting for the recipe was fresh chervil. I didn't really expect the supermarket to have any because I hadn't seen any there before. I checked the growing season for it and it seems to run from May to September so I wasn't likely to get any if if they did usually have it in the season. It seems a bit odd that this is supposed to be a winter recipe but one of the ingredients is one that stops being available after September which is barely into autumn. Anyway, in the absence of chervil I used dried fines herbs which chervil is often a component of, though it's supposed to lose a lot of it's flavour when it's dried.
The recipe itself wasn't too difficult but it did take a while to do. The beetroots are roasted with garlic and thyme(though I didn't get thyme; because of course I would have thyme; because I always have thyme; except that I didn't have thyme; so I made do without the thyme) for one and a half hours before peeling them. Mmm, freshly roasted beetroot straight from the oven! I may have eaten more of the beetroot at this point than I should have. Then the beetroot is put into the dressing, which itself needs to be left for half an hour though this can be done while the beetroot is roasting, and left for somewhere up to a day in the fridge.
In terms of difficulty, the beetroot was a little difficult to peel, the skin is supposed to come straight off after roasting but it actually took a bit of coaxing and they are quite hot when just out of the oven.
The dressing was reasonably easy to do, not quite a matter of just mixing the ingredients because the shallot is left to soak in the vinegar, orange and lemon juice for a while before whisking in the olive oil. And the orange and lemon peel is added afterwards, presumably so it doesn't get mangled when whisking in the oil.
After that it was just a question of leaving the beetroot in the dressing to soak it up. I made it yesterday evening and had it for lunch so it was left for just under a day.
After eating the roast beetroot straight from the oven I was doubtful that the dressing would improve on that but it was very nice. Roast beetroot is great straight from the oven but you can't always have it straight from the oven can you? This recipe is great for any of that roast beetroot that you have that isn't straight from the oven. The citrus dressing counteracts the beetroot somewhat so some of its flavour is lost but it complements the earthy flavour of beetroot really well and the combination is very nice.
If I'm looking for something to do with beetroot this is one that I would definitely consider doing again.