Beetroot & Kale Salad
Beetroot & Kale Salad, with roasted vegetables, grains, nuts, and a lively orange-maple dressing, is a perfect one bowl meal for Autumn and Winter.
This warm salad is full of goodness, but with great textures and flavours too.
I love it topped with golden-fried halloumi. But you could replace that with crispy roasted chickpeas for an entirely plant-based meal.
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As late Autumn and then Winter kicks in, it’s rare you’ll find a cold salad on my dinner plate. I just don’t find them very appealing at this time of year.
But a warm salad with sweet roasted earthy beetroot, dark leaves, toasted nuts, and a tangy dressing? Now you’re talking.
BEETROOT & KALE SALAD
Although a Beetroot & Kale Salad may sound drearily worthy, my version really isn’t.
With a great balance of flavours, textures, and colours, no two mouthfuls are the same.
Roasting cooked beetroot enhances its natural sweetness, balancing its earthy notes. For added interest, I toss the wedges with a little crushed fennel seed before roasting in olive oil.
If you can get hold of different coloured beetroots, then this will give your salad maximum eye appeal. Here I used regular dark red beetroots alongside some beautiful organic golden ones from my Moorland Veg Box.
For the leafy element of the salad, you can use any type of kale. But, again, mixing in different varieties and colours will make it so much more interesting.
Here we have another wonderful product from my fortnightly veg box: dramatically dark purple kale.
For the salad in this post I paired it with some contrasting dark green cavolo nero (sometimes called Tuscan kale) from my garden.
Because this is a warm salad, I also pop the kale in the oven for a bit. Not so that it goes completely crispy, just limp with a few crispy edges.
To prepare it, I simply tear the kale into rough pieces, discarding the tough stems as I go.
Curly kale, whether green or purple, will take longer to cook than the finer leafed cavolo nero, so should go in the oven a few minutes earlier.
The other vegetables in the salad, shredded carrots (I use a julienne peeler) and a red onion, are treated similarly: seasoned and tossed with a little olive oil before going in the oven.
Crunch in the Beetroot & Kale Salad comes in the form of nuts. I like pecans or walnuts, but you can substitute whatever you like or have in your cupboard. Whichever you use, I think it’s worth taking an extra few minutes to toast the nuts in a dry frying pan first.
I like to add a handful of cooked grains to the salad and bulgur wheat is one of my favourites. I love its nutty flavour and you don’t even need to boil it. Just soak in hot water and set aside until soft then drain it.
Instead of bulgur, you could use cooked brown rice or quinoa. For convenience, cook in advance, drain, and cool it. When you’re ready to build the salad, just ping in the microwave until hot.
ORANGE & MAPLE DRESSING
What brings together all the lovely goodies in this salad is the fab dressing.
As well as extra virgin olive oil and red wine vinegar, there’s orange zest, orange juice, parsley, and a good helping of garlic.
These sharp and zingy elements are softened by the sweetness of maple syrup. You could use another sweetener if you prefer, but I think maple syrup’s distinctive flavour goes wonderfully well with the pecan nuts as well as earthy beetroots and kale.
To make the dressing, just put all the ingredients in a jar, screw on the lid, and give it all a good shake.
Good as it is, I think this dressing is even better slightly warm. Before tossing it through the salad, ping in the microwave until just warm, not hot. And make sure the lid is off, of course! You could also warm it in a small saucepan on top of the stove.
FINAL TOUCH
While you could eat Beetroot & Kale Salad, with all its wonderful flavours, textures, and colours, just as it is, I love it with halloumi.
I fry squares of the squeaky cheese in olive oil until just golden. I toss the salad with most of the dressing, top with the fried halloumi, then drizzle with the rest of the dressing.
A great alternative to halloumi would be crispy roasted chickpeas which are good for adding protein to plant-based meals. See my recipe for roasted aubergine with herbed tahini yogurt for how to make them.
Best enjoyed as soon as its dressed, this warm Beetroot & Kale Salad will brighten up any Autumn or Winter dinner time.
Beetroot & Kale Salad
With roasted vegetables, grains, nuts, orange dressing & optional halloumi, this warm salad is a perfect one bowl meal for Autumn & Winter.
Ingredients
- 4 medium beetroot (mixed colours if possible) cooked, topped, tailed & peeled (see Recipe Notes)
- salt & pepper
- 1 tsp fennel seeds lightly crushed with the back of a spoon
- olive oil for roasting
- 1 medium red onion skinned, halved, cut in medium slices
- 1 large carrot shredded, with a julienne peeler if possible
- 4 large handfuls kale and/or cavolo nero tough stems removed, leaf torn into large pieces
- 60 g pecans or walnuts lightly toasted
- 200 g cooked grains e.g. bulgur wheat, brown rice, quinoa
- ½ tbsp parsley finely chopped
- 225 g sliced halloumi plus oil for frying optional: see Recipe Notes for alternative
For the dressing
- 1 medium orange
- 3 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
- 1 tbsp red wine vinegar
- 1 large clove garlic finely chopped
- 1 tbsp maple syrup or other sweetener
- ½ tbsp parsley finely chopped
- salt & pepper to taste
Instructions
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Preheat the oven to 220C / 200C Fan / Gas 7
Make the dressing first
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Finely grate the orange zest and put it in a screw-topped jar.
Squeeze the juice of half of the orange and add that to the jar.
Add the rest of the ingredients to the jar, screw on the lid and shake together well.
Taste and adjust seasoning if necessary.
Set aside.
Roast the vegetables
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Cut the cooked beetroot into bite-sized wedges.
Season with salt, pepper and some crushed fennel seeds then toss with a little olive oil to coat.
Do the same with the red onion slices.
Put both on a baking tray in the oven and cook for 10 minutes.
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Meanwhile: season the kale and/or cavolo nero with salt & pepper then toss in olive oil.
If you're using kale AND cavolo nero keep them separate as kale takes longer to cook than cavolo nero.
Season the carrot with salt & pepper and toss in olive oil.
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After the beetroot and onion have been cooking for 10 minutes, turn them both.
Put the kale (but NOT the cavolo nero) and carrot on another tray in the oven. Cook for 4 minutes.
Add the cavolo nero, tossing it with the kale and carrot.
Cook for another 3-5 minutes or until or the vegetables are done to your liking.
Remove from the oven.
Heat the grains
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Put the cooked grains in a microwave safe container and cook on full power until heated through (2-4 min).
Fry the halloumi if using
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Heat the olive oil to moderately hot in a large frying pan.
Fry the halloumi on both sides until golden brown.
Set aside on kitchen paper.
Build the salad
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Put the cooked kale, cavolo nero and carrots in a large bowl.
Add the roasted beetroots and onions, toasted pecans, cooked grains and parsley.
Tip: for a warm dressing, take the lid off the jar and microwave it for approx 1 min or until just heated through.
Pour over approximately two-thirds of the dressing and toss very well.
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Divide the salad between two bowls, top with the sliced halloumi, drizzle with the remaining dressing and serve.
Recipe Notes
Ready-Cooked Beetroot
If you buy ready-cooked beetroot, make sure it's not preserved in vinegar.
Cooking Raw Beetroot
Discard any leaves and long roots, wash well.
Boil or steam until tender, or cook in a pressure cooker for 15-25 minutes depending on size.
Peel when cool enough to handle.
Crispy Chickpeas
To make this salad completely plant-based, replace the halloumi with crispy chickpeas.