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
Pre heat the oven to 200 degrees celcius while doing the rest of the prep
Trim the leaves from the beetroot, leaving about an inch of the stem
Wash the beetroot thoroughly with a veg brush
Rub with olive oil, salt and pepper and place in a small roasting dish
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
Cover the dish with tin foil, roast for 60 minutes then remove from oven
Remove the beetroot from the dish and drop it in a bowl of cold water
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
Slice the beetroot into thin half circles
For the Salad
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
Whisk the dressing ingredients together in a bowl
Combine the salad ingredients in a bowl, add the dressing and toss together
Serve and enjoy





