Roast beets, citrus & horseradish
grownandgathered
*If you can't stand the wait skip straight to the bottom for your sneak peek of the cover (and pre-order!) of our soon to be released book!
Sometimes things can seem pretty dark and grey in winter and that can really bring us down. This super simple, light and refreshing salad has been exactly what we've needed to brighten those dark, wet days. Even winter can be delicious.
A couple of weeks ago, on a rare sunny day, we harvested some of our fresh horseradish. Growing fresh horseradish has been a bit of a revelation. Fresh, it is so much less pungent and intense than the prepared versions. It’s lighter and more refreshing, but still with hints of that familiar punch. And it is so good freshly grated over almost anything at this time of year.
Even though it’s winter and it’s cold. Really cold. There is still so much amazing fresh produce around. The citrus orchard is loaded with a whole new season of lemons, grapefruits and oranges. And the winter garden is loaded with all kinds of colourful root vegetables! Mix it all with horseradish and you have a super easy and delicious dish.
As always, this is about taking really good ingredients that you need to do very little to, and putting them together on a plate because they just taste so amazing together!
Field notes
On growing horseradish
Horseradish loves a rich soil. Make sure it is always moist, but not wet, and in 12 months you can grow a cutting to 20 times the size it was the previous spring. Dig up your horseradish roots anytime after their leaves have died back in winter. That is the time to divide them. Keep some for eating and replant the rest in very early spring for a new growing season.
On storing grapefruits
For us, new season grapefruits are harvested now, but they store super well in the fridge, or they will hold on the tree for you to pick at your leisure. So we generally enjoy them almost all the year round.
Serves 4–6 // Time 50 minutes
Recipe
Ingredients
50 g (half) a Spanish onion, finely sliced
1 tablespoon white wine vinegar
2 tablespoons unrefined sugar (like rapadura)
unrefined salt
8 medium–large beetroot (800 g), trimmed and cut into quarters or halves
ground black pepper
extra virgin olive oil
1 large grapefruit, peeled and cut into segments
2 large oranges, peeled and cut into segments
150 g labne (yoghurt cheese)
30–40 g fresh horseradish, grated
1/2 cup dill, finely chopped
dill flowers (if you can find them), to serve
Vinaigrette
1 1/2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
2 teaspoons white wine vinegar
Method
Preheat the oven to 190°C.
Add the onion, vinegar, sugar and 1 teaspoon of salt to a bowl, massage firmly and set aside.
Add the beetroot to a saucepan, barely cover with salty water and boil for about 10 minutes until just tender. Drain, pat dry and spread out on a baking tray. Sprinkle with salt and pepper, drizzle generously with oil and bake for about 30 minutes until soft and a little crisp on the outside. Meanwhile, for the vinaigrette, add the vinegar and olive oil with a pinch of salt and pepper to a jar and shake well.
Lay the beetroot out in bowls, followed by the grapefruit and orange segments, onions and labne. Sprinkle with the grated horseradish, dill and dill flowers, drizzle with vinaigrette and serve.
PS. Cover reveal + PRE-ORDER!
The release of our new book Grown & Gathered - Traditional living made modern, is just around the corner (September 27!) so it is time we gave you all your first peek!
The making of the book has been one of the hardest and most rewarding experiences of our lives so far - and we wrote it for you! We can't wait to share all of our gardening, foraging, animal raising, trading and of course preserving and cooking secrets with you all.
We are now open to pre-orders! So head over to the shop page and place yours now if you want one of the first (and signed) copies delivered fresh off the press in September. Then stay tuned - we'll be bringing you a peek inside very soon. Excited!
Images in this post by: Shantanu Starick