Orange and Beetroot Quinoa Salad

It's been one of those stifling Melbourne weekends where all I seem to be able to manage is lying in a puddle on the floor when I should really be writing a thesis and going for runs and other things of that nature.  At least this weekend I managed to eat well.  


This salad works hot or cold, but if it's been 38 degrees then I'd go with cold.  It's refreshing, tangy with little crunchy almond surprises scattered throughout.  I have also been telling myself it's full of nutritional value, which makes that potato cake I had before seem all okay.


Ingredients:

• 1 cup quinoa
• 2 oranges
• 1 beetroot plus leaves
• 1 cup almonds
•  teaspoon cinnamon
• good olive oil 
• salt and pepper for seasoning

Cook the quinoa in 1.5 cups liquid made up of the juice of one orange and the rest boiling water.*  While it's cooking prepare you're other ingredients.

Strip the beetroot of its leaves and reserve them.  Peel the beetroot and grate.  Rinse the leaves and finely shred.  Halve the remaining orange, remove the pith and peel from one half and chop into small pieces.  Juice the other half of the orange and reserve for the dressing.

Roughly hew the almonds and toast in a dry pan until beginning to brown.

Once the quinoa is done add the orange, beetroot, leaves and almonds and toss through.  Dress the salad with the remaining orange juice, a drizzle of olive oil, the cinnamon and a little salt and pepper.  Delicious.

*If you've never cooked quinoa, a basic method involves placing it in 1.5 times the quantity of boiling water, cover and simmer for 15 minutes, then with the lid still on take off the heat and rest for another five minutes.

Chocolate and beetroot bundt cake, OR How to win the affections of a 5 year old

 
I had dinner tonight at my dad's and step-mum's house and was pretty excited because Myra was going to be there - Myra being a serious contender for cutest five-year-old ever.  I hadn't seen her for months, and indeed hadn't seen Dad and Anne for a while, and also I had study to do today so I decided I would bake a chocolate cake to take.  And then Tristan informed me that Myra doesn't like chocolate cake and I was all "WHA...?!".  But she does like pink cakes.  And I knew I had to put beetroot in my cake and trick the the five-year-old into like my cake and liking me because of food.


Here was her verdict, in picture form.

So with no further ado:


Ingredients:

•  1 1/2 cups of self-raising flour
• 1/3 cup cocoa 
• 1 large beetroot
• 1/2 cup milk
• 1/4 cup of vegetable oil
• 1/4 cup yoghurt
• 1/4 cup hot water
• 2 eggs
• vanilla essence

 Icing:

• Icing sugar
• beetroot juice
• cardamom
• twirl to decorate

Preheat the oven to 180 C and grease your bundt tin.  Peel and grate the beetroot. Take a big handful of the beetroot and squeeze the juice into a small ramiken and put it aside for later.  

Put the cocoa and hot water in a large bowl and mix together.  Add the two eggs and stir through, the add the beetroot and mix.

In a large jug mix the milk, oil, vanilla and yoghurt. 

Fold the milk mixture and flour into the chocolate mixture in equal parts.  Then pour into the tin and bake for 55 mins.

Take the cake out of the oven to cool and prepare the icing by adding your beetroot juice you put aside earlier to four heaped tablespoons of icing sugar and a sprinkle of cardamom.  When the cake is cooled, pour over.

Finally, take the Twirl that you found in the car that is all smashed up, and smash it up further then pour the chocolatey crumbs over the cake. Ta da!  One pink(ish) chocolate cake.

Myra has declared "She LOVES beetroot." 

Spicy carrot and beetroot salad

This started as a simple carrot salad I learnt from a Greg and Lucy Malouf cook book - grated carrots and delicious spice.  But these days I almost always add beetroot, and maybe some seeds.  And then this morning I went bonkas and threw in pomegranate, walnuts and chevre and the things went to a whole new level.  Tangy and juicy and hot hot pink.  I got a spray of pomegranate down my white t-shirt that made me look like I murdered an exotic fruit, and in many ways, I did.

Ingredients:

• 2 carrots
• 1 beetroot
• 1/2 a pomegranate
• big handful of walnuts
• big handful of sunflower seeds

Dressing:

• really good olive oil
• juice of 1/2 lemon
• splash of orange blossom water
• teaspoon cumin
• teaspoon of cinnamon
• half a teaspoon chilli powder
• teaspoon of honey

Grate the carrot and beetroot and put in a large mixing bowl.  This is the most time consuming part. You're already 80% there.  Oh man I love an easy salad.  Scoop the seeds from half the pomegranate.  If this is the first time you've done this it will be slightly baffling and little hard white bits will stick to the seeds (at least, this was my experience the first time I used one).  The key is to abandon all utensils and muck in with your hands - the little juicy seeds will come away from the fruit easily.

 Toast your walnuts and seeds by placing them in a thin layer in a dry frying pan, and tossing on a medium heat for about 2 minutes until they start to brown and the seeds start to pop.  Then add these to your salad.

Now mix the dressing, by taking all the dressing ingredients and stirring them vigorously in a little ramiken, like so.

Toss the dressing through, and finally, place your creamy chevre (that's fancy for soft white goats cheese) on top.

Tri-salad Sunday

Ah the change of seasons.  Time for finishing the scarf I started knitting over a month ago.  Time to buy some new 100 denier tights.  Time to consider growing my hair long, again.  Time to buy new batteries for my bike lights for the dark evenings.

It's also time to get my first dastardly head cold of the season.  Time to go to bed early.  Time to take fruit, and eat vitamins.  Time to up my vegetable intake massively.  Hence Tri-salad Sunday.  A way to capitalise on some time at home in the midst of my manic massive work and study load, to stockpile some high veg, low(ish) carbs, tasty meals to last the majority of the week.

One Sunday.  One blog post.  Three salads.  Let's do this thing.

1. Green lentil salad
2. Pearl couscous, beetroot and sweet potato salad
3. Roast mushrooms

Okay, that last one isn't really a salad, but it's vegetables, and it's yummy, so just go with it, okay?


Green lentil salad 

 Ingredients:

• 1.5 cups green lentils (Puy if you can get 'em) 
• Bay leaves 
• 1 tomato, diced
• half a green capsicum, diced
• half a red capsicum, diced
• half a small red onion, finely sliced
• goats fetta
• 1 cup walnuts
• bunch of fresh parsley, finely chopped
• dressing - grape must, macadamia oil and raspberry balsamic

Heat the oven to 180 degrees C.  Dry roast the walnuts for 8-10 minutes.  Rinse the lentils under cold water then add to a pot.  Pour over 4.5 cups of boiling water (you can use stock if you prefer).  Add the bay leaves and simmer for 20 minutes.  To check if they're ready, taste to make sure the texture is right.  I wanted my lentils to be firm but chewy, and not tough.  Once cooked, drain the remaining water and again, run cold water over the lentils to cool them.

Finely chop your tomato, capsicum, onion and parsley.  Add the walnuts, vegetables, parsley and fetta to the lentils and toss through.  Make up your dressing and pour over.

Pearl couscous, beetroot and sweet potato salad

Ingredients:

• 1 packet of pearl couscous
• 2 cups stock
• 1 sweet potato, diced
• 3 small beetroots or 2 medium beetroots, diced
• olive oil
• lemon juice
• 1.5 cups rocket 
• salt and pepper 

Peel and dice the beetroot and sweet potato.  Toss in oil and roast in a 180 C oven for up to 50 minutes, or until browning and crunchy.

While the vegetables roast, place the couscous in a saucepan with a dash of oil, and heat through, coating the couscous.  Add two cups of boiling stock, cover and simmer for 8-10 minutes, stirring occasionally to prevent sticking to the bottom of the pan.  Then cool and seperate with a fork.

Rinse the rocket and pat dry on a tea towel.  Then add the rocket and roast vegetables to the couscous, and toss.  Add a splash of olive oil, juice of one lemon, salt and pepper, and mix through.

Roast mushrooms

Ingredients:

• white button and large portabello mushrooms, roughly chopped
• olive oil
•  3 cloves of garlic
• fresh parsley
• knob of butter

Place the mushrooms  in a pan and drizzle olive oil over them, then toss.  Sprinkle salt and pepper over them if you fancy extra seasoning.  Add the garlic cloves to the pan and roast in the oven (180 C) for about 20 minutes, checking to make sure the mushrooms do not dehydrate fully.

Remove the garlic and squeeze out the roasted insides.  Add to a bowl with the knob of butter and microwave for 20 seconds, or until the butter is melted.  Add the mushrooms to the bowl with the finely chopped fresh parsley, and toss.

Serve all three with freshly baked dinner rolls and lemon infused olive oil.  Oh yum.

NB This will make huge quantities of salad, if you make all three at once.  Eat them all week and show your head cold who's boss!