Roasted Beetroot with Toasted Walnuts and a Yogurt Dressing

Beets, walnuts and some yogurt make for a perfect and nourishing salad for the cooler months. Though beets can be rather a messy pain to deal with, they are well worth the effort, especially when roasted to preserve their goodness. Though I am far from being an expert photographer, I think maybe I should watermark my images as I have found two sites in the past couple of weeks stealing my content including my recipe, write up along with photos. What a shame when us honest bloggers and foodies go to so much effort to create unique and original content. Off to Siberia they should go. Thankfully I have managed to deal with two sites trying to make money off other folk's creativity.

I will stop griping now and just suggest this most flavorful salad that went so well with a risotto-style barley with kale, goat cheese and Parmesan that I will be sharing with my readers soon. I am sending this off to Weekend Herb Blogging, a weekly event now hosted by Haalo and this time around Simona of Briciole will be posting the roundup.

Roasted Beetroot with Toasted Walnuts and Yogurt

Recipe by Lisa Turner Adapted from River Cottage Everyday Veg Published on January 16, 2012 A simple but elegant and nourishing salad with wonderful contrasts in colors and textures, suitable for any meal Print this recipe Ingredients: 2 pounds baby beets 4 cloves garlic, crushed 4 sprigs fresh thyme, finely chopped generous handful dried curry leaves 3 tablespoons olive oil 2/3 cup walnut pieces juice of 1 lemon 2 tablespoons olive oil sea salt and fresh cracked black pepper Dressing: 4 tablespoons of plain or goat milk yogurt 2 tablespoons of ricotta cheese or sour cream fresh cracked black pepper and rock salt or sea salt to taste 2 tablespoons of freshly chopped chives Garnish: a generous handful of trimmed roughly chopped spinach or watercress Instructions: Begin by roasting the beets. Preheat the oven to 400°. Scrub the beets and put into a baking pan. Sprinkle with the garlic, thyme and curry leaves. Season with salt and pepper and add 3 tablespoons of olive oil. Cover with foil and roast until fork tender — roughly 1 hour. While the beets are roasting, place the walnuts into a small sauce pan with a bit of oil and stir and fry for 5 minutes over medium low-heat. When the beetroot are cool enough to handle, chop off the ends and peel the skins. Slice into wedges and transfer to a large bowl. Sprinkle over the lemon juice, 2 tablespoons of olive oil, fresh cracked black pepper and sea salt to taste, and some of the spinach or watercress. Gently toss. To make the dressing, whisk together the yogurt and ricotta or sour cream and add rock salt or sea salt and fresh ground black pepper to taste. Add the dressing as well as most of the walnuts and chives to the salad, leaving some walnuts and chives for garnish. Toss gently and serve in small bowls, garnished with the remaining walnuts, chives and spinach or watercress. Makes 6 servings

Other Beet dishes you will likely enjoy from Lisa's Vegetarian Kitchen:
Beet and Feta Salad
Beetroot Rasam
Baked Vegetable Cutlets
Haloumi, Beetroot and Greens Dressed with Tahini and Lemon

On the top of the reading stack: The Cat's Table by Michael Ondaatje

Audio Accompaniment: Pheek