Roasted beetroot, red onion and orange salad with baked feta

Serves: 4-6

Roasted beetroot, red onion and orange salad with baked feta
Roasted beetroot, red onion and orange salad with baked feta Roasted beetroot, red onion and orange salad with baked feta

I would never have believed that the tearful 6 year old who categorically refused to eat the cubes of pickled beetroot in her school salad would become a lover of the same vegetable. It was a combination of the flavour and the way the beetroot bled into the greying hard-boiled egg that so offended me. Years later it was a beetroot soup served at a Polish Christmas dinner my friends host every year that started my conversion. However, that said I still won’t touch ready-pickled beetroot. Roasting the root vegetable is the way to go-it really concentrates their flavour.

Ingredients

  • For the beetroot salad
  • 900g raw beetroot, washed and topped and tailed
  • 2 red onions, peeled and cut into wedges (about 4-6 per half onion)
  • 2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
  • 2 oranges
  • 20g flat-leaf parsley, roughly torn up
  • For the feta cheese
  • 200g piece feta cheese
  • 2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
  • 1 teaspoon dried chipotle chilli flakes (or ordinary chilli flakes)
  • 1 teaspoon finely chopped fresh rosemary

Method

  1. Heat the oven to 180˚c, fan oven 160˚c, mark 4. Place the beetroot in a roasting tin and loosely cover in foil. Bake in the oven for about 2 hours –cooking time will depend on the size of the beetroot. A knife inserted should meet no resistance when they are cooked through. Leave to cool then peel off the skins and cut into wedges. Place in a serving bowl.
  2. Place the onions in a roasting tin and toss with the olive oil. Cook in the oven for 40-45 minutes, giving them a stir halfway through cooking. Leave to cool and add to the beetroot.
  3. Slice the top and bottom off the oranges and cut down the sides to remove the skin and pith. Slice in between the membranes separating each segment and lift out the segments. Add to the beetroot and onion and squeeze over any juice from the remains of the oranges. Stir in the parsley and season with salt and ground black pepper. The salad can be prepared in advance and chilled but bring to room temperature to serve.
  4. Turn the oven up to 200˚c, fan oven 180˚c, mark 6. Brush the feta cheese with the oil and roll in the chilli flakes and rosemary. Place on a baking tray lined with foil and bake for 15 minutes until golden. Leave for a few minutes to firm up before roughly cutting up and arranging over the salad. Serve immediately.