Roast Beetroot, Apple and Walnut Salad with a Spicy Moroccan Dressing

This is a very interesting salad with an eclectic mix of flavours; the apple, beetroot and walnut complement each other perfectly, and the spicy Moroccan inspired dressing really ties the dish together. When I was creating this dish, I wasn't even sure it would work, harissa and ras el hanout in a salad dressing is definitely an adventurous combination. I'm so happy I tried it though as it tastes amazing. I'll be experimenting a lot more in the future with spicy salad dressings! If you are impatient and want to cut down on the cooking time you can buy ready to eat beetroot from the supermarket rather than roast your own, but it will taste much better if you roast it yourself.

Prep Time: 20 minutes

Cooking Time: 1 hour, 10 Minutes (1 hour is for roasting the beetroot, only 10 minutes if you buy the beetroot ready to go)

Serves: 2 people

Ingredients

For Roasting the Beetroot

4 small beetroot

1 tablespoon rapeseed oil

Pinch of salt and pepper

For the Dressing

2 tablespoons rapeseed oil

1 tablespoon balsamic vinegar

1 teaspoon harissa Paste

1 teaspoon ras el hanout

1/2 teaspoon cumin

1/2 teaspoon honey

Pinch of salt & pepper

For the Salad

2 handfuls baby spinach, washed and dried

1 Handful of walnuts, roughly chopped

1/4 red onion, finely sliced

1/2 apple, cored and finely sliced

The Roasted Beetroot, finely sliced into half circles

Instructions

To Roast the Beetroot

1. Pre heat the oven to 200 degrees celcius while doing the rest of the prep

2. Trim the leaves from the beetroot, leaving about an inch of the stem

3. Wash the beetroot thoroughly with a veg brush

4. Rub with olive oil, salt and pepper and place in a small roasting dish

5. Add a little water to the dish, being careful not to wash off the oil. The water will steam the beetroot while it is also roasting

6. Cover the dish with tin foil, roast for 60 minutes then remove from oven

7. Remove the beetroot from the dish and drop it in a bowl of cold water

8. When the beetroot is cool enough to handle, but still warm remove the tops and tails and slide the skin off the outside. Sometimes it comes off easy and other times you need to lightly scrape it off

9. Slice the beetroot into thin half circles

For the Salad

1. Heat a frying pan to a high heat and lightly toast the chopped walnuts, this won't take long, only 30 to 60 seconds, be careful to not let them burn. Remove from the pan once toasted

2. Whisk the dressing ingredients together in a bowl

3. Combine the salad ingredients in a bowl, add the dressing and toss together

4. Serve and enjoy