FOOD FRIDAY - BEETROOT SALAD

“To make a good salad is to be a brilliant diplomatist -- the problem is entirely the same in both cases. To know exactly how much oil one must put with one’s vinegar.” - Oscar Wilde
 
Some years ago, I thought that beetroot was a vegetable rootstock that one ate only cooked. We had had it frequently at home, boiled and sliced, served with its greens, as one of the basic ingredients in borscht and of course pickled. I then tried raw beetroot at a restaurant and it won me quite over. Since then we frequently have this beetroot salad.
 
Beetroot’s main benefits are that it contains no fat, very few calories and is a great source of fibre. Beetroot has for many years been used as a treatment for cancer in Europe. Specific anti-carcinogens are bound to the red colouring matter which supposedly helps fight against cancer and beetroot also increases the uptake of oxygen by as much as 400 percent. Additional studies are taking place to add support to these claims. The green leafy part of the beetroot is also of nutritional value containing beta-carotene and other carotenoids, which function as antioxidants. The leafy part of the beet also contains lots of folate, iron, potassium and some vitamin C.
 
BEETROOT SALAD

Ingredients
 
2 carrots very finely grated

2 beetroot very finely grated

The tender leafy parts of the beetroot (discard the stalks and tough leaves) finely chopped

2 Lebanese (small, gherkin type) cucumbers, julienned

3 spring onions, finely chopped

Salt, pepper to taste

1 teaspoonful dry mustard powder

Vinaigrette dressing (3 parts olive oil, 1 part balsamic vinegar)
 
Method

Mix all ingredients together except for the condiments and dressing. Dissolve the salt, pepper and mustard powder in the vinegar and then make the vinaigrette. Pour the dressing over the salad, mix well and serve with fresh, crusty bread.

This post is part of the Food Friday meme,
and also part of the Food Trip Friday meme.