Beetroot is a wonderful vegetable rich in folic acid, manganese, potassium and fibre. Beetroots have a reputation for being a blood tonic, with their bright blood red colour it’s an easy one to remember. It’s actually the nitrates found in beetroot that have shown to reduce blood pressure. This is done by way of nitric oxide which is a key regulator in vascular integrity. Don’t discard the leaves as they are nutritious too! Beet greens are rich in calcium, iron and vitamin A and C.
I love serving this salad as a side dish with many other meals or simply with some brown rice and ponzu.
The sesame oil and shoyu give it a slight Japanese flavour and the vinegar enhances the fresh clean crunchiness of the grated beetroot. It will keep in the fridge for a few days too which is a bonus and makes all the grating and pink hands worth it!
Oh…and don’t be surprised when you go to the toilet the next day and your stool is a bit pink, nothing to worry about it’s just the rich colour from the beet.
Grated Beetroot Salad
Ingredients:
2-3 beetroots peeled and grated (2 if large, 3 if smaller)
2 tablespoons sesame seeds, roasted
1 tablespoons pine nuts, roasted
2-3 finely chopped beetroot leaves
4-5 finely chopped young kale leaves or fresh rocket leaves if available
Dressing:
2 tablespoons olive oil
1 tablespoon ponzu
1 teaspoon mirin
1 teaspoon shoyu
1 teaspoon sesame oil
2 tablespoons red wine or apple cider vinegar
Celtic or Himalayan salt to taste
Grate beetroots with grater or in food processor and place in salad bowl. Dry roast sesame seeds and pine nuts in fry pan on low heat until gently browned. Set aside. Finely chop beetroot and kale leaves and add to beetroot.
To make the dressing, place all ingredients in a jar and shake well, until emulsified.
Just before serving, add sesame seeds and pine nuts. Shake dressing again and add to salad. Toss until beetroot is well coated in the dressing and serve.
Alternatively you can mix all ingredients in a large bowl (e.g. stainless steel) to avoid beetroot juice covering most of the bowl, and once mixed well, you can transfer to the serving bowl.
Will keep in airtight container in the fridge for 2-3 days.
Variations
- use pepitas in place of the pine nuts