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I saw red

Imagine your salad in a restaurant. Now picture the salad without the lettuce, cucumber and radish. Is it a little pile of cheese or carrot shavings and some corn? More or less. Great salads don’t have to contain leafy greens, though. In fact, sometimes they don’t contain any greens at all. This roasted beet sweet and pungent salad with oranges, grated ginger and couscous is one of those. The oranges will look like blood oranges after they sit for a little while with the beets.

Despite only containing  a handful of ingredients, it offers so much in texture, flavour and contrast. The sweetness of the oranges, the earthy beets and grainy couscous come together to creat one impressive treat. Even a non-typical beet lover might have a change of mind with this one. Let’s get going now.

Preheat your oven to 200°C. Wash the beets, leavong some water on skins. Wrap in foil and place on a rimmed baking sheet. Roast for about an hour and let cool. Cut all peel and white pith from the oranges. Cut them into pieces over a bowl to catch all the juice. Peel cooled beets and cut them into small squares or any other shape you prefer. Mix beets and oranges together. Add grated ginger, reserved orange juice, lemon juice, sherry vinegar (optional), olive oil, salt and pepper. Toss to get the flavours going and garnish with basil leaves. Lay it down on a bed of couscous. Wait. I saw red. And it was a salad.

Warning: Tastes as stunning as it looks!