Redefine comfort food with this rich, warm and hearty salad which takes the best offerings of the season to create a mouthwatering dish. This salad is just as satisfying as a simple mid-week dinner or as a cheerful addition to a pot luck dinner with your mates.
Like any good salad the recipe is merely a guide and you can mix and match to suit your tastes. For this divine combination we've roasted beetroot, fennel, onions and pears for warm, mild and sweet flavours and mixed with winter salad greens for a fresh crunch. We've topped with feta and walnuts to add further complexity to the flavour and contrast.
Ingredients
- 3 beetroot, scrubbed and sliced into wedges
- 3 onions, peeled and sliced into wedges
- 3 pears, cored and sliced into wedges
- 1 bulb Florence fennel (optional)
- mixed salad greens - we used lettuce and radicchio
- ½ cup walnuts (or salad toppers)
- 30g feta cheese, or vegan feta (optional)
- ¼ Tbsp olive oil
- 2 Tbsp balsamic vinegar
- 1 Tbsp coconut sugar (or any other brown sugar will do)
Method
Preheat oven to 220 C.
Place beetroot in a shallow roasting dish and the onions, pears and fennel (if using) in a separate dish. This is to avoid the beetroot staining the other vegetables.
Whisk the olive oil, vinegar and sugar together and pour evenly over the two pans. Mix through.
Spread the items in the dish to a single layer and bake for 40 - 50 mins, stirring a couple of times during baking. Liquid should be mostly evaporated and beetroot tender.
Bake walnuts (if using) in a separate dish for approximately 12-15 minutes.
Allow to cool and dress salad greens with an extra splash of olive oil and balsamic vinegar.
Add roasted items topped with walnuts or salad toppers and mix gently with your fingers. Crumble feta over salad and eat while still warm. Enjoy!