Beetroot, Orange and Smoked Fish Salad

Like the good Aussie I am, I love pickled beetroot.  You just can't call it a hamburger unless there is a slice or two of beetroot on top of the meat pattie!  Not that this recipe is for a hamburger, but for a refreshing, tangy salad which is just what we need during this heatwave we're having.  It is going to be 36C today, and very dusty and windy.  The fires up north are still burning, so it's a wee bit scary too.

I saw that Lorraine (Not Quite Nigella) had recently made a roasted beetroot salad, which reminded me to put up my version.  I had been meaning to do this for yonks!  So my recipe is inspired by an ancient red onion and orange recipe ripped out of a Cuisine NZ magazine, a huge whack of inspo from a recent Woolworth's Fresh magazine, and a wee kick up the backside from reading Lorraine's:-) 

juicing the orange (I grated mine) 

Serves 2-3 people as a main, or 4 as a side:


(Start preparing the onion about an hour before serving)


ingredients:


1 small (or half a large) red onion, finely sliced

1 tbs red wine vinegar

2 tbs lime or lemon juice

1 small orange (or half a large) - zest and juice

1 baby cos lettuce, torn into pieces 

100g. walnuts, toasted @ 170C for about 10 minutes

500g. of cooked beetroot - I used ready-cooked, vacuum packed

1 small Lebanese cucumber (approx 140g.), cut into chunks OR one apple, chopped into large chunks

200g. smoked salmon or ocean trout, roughly chopped (use scissors - it's easier)

a big handful of fresh parsley, chopped with scissors

2 tbs fresh dill, chopped

black pepper to taste


Dressing:

2-3 tbs plain Greek yoghurt

1/2-1 tbs tahini

1-2 tsp grain mustard

1 tbs lime or lemon juice

salt and ground black pepper to taste


Method:


Place the onion slices in a small, non-corrosive bowl

Stir in the vinegar and lime juice

Cover with a tea towel and let it sit for an hour

When the onion is done, place the orange zest and juice, lettuce, walnuts, beets and cucumber (or apple) in a large salad bowl and stir gently together

Mix the dressing ingredients together, and dollop it over the salad

Toss gently if you feel inclined

Now sprinkle the fish and herbs over the salad

Grind the pepper over the bowl

Serve as is for a main, or with baked potato etc. as a side


Notes:

Feel free to cook up your own beetroot, but this is so easy on a hot, steamy night with pre-cooked beets - just make sure they're 100% beetroot and nothing else

For extra tang, toss the cucumber slices/chunks into some vinegar for 10 minutes before adding to the salad

marinate the red onion in vinegar and lime juice for about an hour 

zest and juice the orange

pile the ingredients into a large salad bowl

mix the dressing

dollop over the salad

snip the fish over the salad 

I threw a bit of this over the salad  

beetroot artwork by sherry's pickings