Wednesday 11 February 2009

Beetroot & Chickpea Salad

Last night I had a friend over for dinner and with all this cold, horrible wet weather of late I fancied cooking something a little more exotic! I made three new dishes, all kinda thrown together but worked really well, we had spiced lamb patties, scented with cumin, chilli, cinnamon, oregano, ginger, garlic and coriander and a side of cucumber yoghurt dip:



A new favourite was sweet potato bites, which were really good, soft and fluffy inside and crispy outer, however they were extremely messy to make so I really need to refine the recipe before posting! The idea came about after having sweet potato fritters, when I was out for dinner last week and I was eager to re-create, though mine didn't look as neat as theirs, they tasted delicious!


I love beetroot and I knew my friend did too so this salad came about after thinking up the first two ideas, am really happy with the result and will be a definate staple once the weather perks up! I have also sent this over to Culinarty for their Original Recipes Monthly round up










Beetroot Salad

Serves 3 or 4 as a side

2 freshly cooked beetroots - vac pack is fine or freshly cooked
2 medium carrots
1 tin chickpeas, rinsed (the darker kala chana are also good in this)
½ tsp freshly ground cumin seed
1 spring onion, finely chopped
1 tbsp red wine vinegar
splash of lemon or lime juice
2 tbsp EVOO
S&P

Prepare this the day before if possible to allow the flavours to develop.

Finely dice the spring onion and place in a large bowl / container, rinse and drain the chickpeas and mix with the spring onion

Peel and finely grate the carrots, add to mix, add seasoning, wine vinegar and 1 tbsp of the olive oil, mix well and leave overnight or for a few hours to infuse. Roughly half an hour or so before eating, dice the beetroots into cubes, add to the mixture with the remaining olive oil and a pinch more s&p if needed, allow to stand at room temperature until required, decant if required into a serving dish

Was really pleased with result, the flavours worked so well together and is perfect side salad.

13 comments:

  1. Those lamb patties look delightful, as does the dip!

    I love that yogurt dip, it looks so refreshing!!

    Katie xox

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  2. What a lovely meal and what a lucky friend!

    Maria
    x

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  3. Hi Anne,

    Love the sound of those lamb patties too! Gonna try out your recipe, looks great. Keep up the good work!

    Lennie

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  4. I always get beetroot in my veg box and never know what to do with it, next time I'll try your recipe!

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  5. Yum - looks good. Great idea for the beetroot salad - definitely one I will try.

    Bron

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  6. the sweet potato bites look scrummy - i love little tasty things that are crispy then soft! Don't hold back on the recipe - give it us now! We can cope with a little squish and mess! (thanks - am feeling much better now and am back to eating too)

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  7. Hey this looks so yummy. But got a question, what is EVOO? I don't know this, where can I find it or anything I can replace this?

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  8. Katiecakes – I really love the yoghurt dip too, is just 1/3 cucumber, seeded and finely diced, a small tub of natural yoghurt, S&P and 2 tsp rice wine vinegar, great little accompaniment

    Maria – We did have a good evening and ate so much! Was good to cook something a bit different!

    Lennie Nash – be generous with the lamb seasonings, have not posted full recipe yet as need to tweak a little but as they were, they were very tasty!

    Sam – Glad to have found you something to do with them! Hope you enjoy it if you try, do let me know!

    Bron – Was really pleased to make a successful ‘salad’, some previous attempts have been, erm, interesting but this is definitely in keeper camp! Keeps well too, had leftovers next day for lunch and still delicious

    Merlotti – As you asked so nicely, I will post later on as I have a picture on home pc of them cooked for you to drool over! I think you will love the bites, I too adore nibbly things and these were a real treat!

    Janetching – EVOO is extra virgin olive oil, sorry for any confusion, I have to remember sometimes I am not typing in a forum! Sorry for any confusion

    x

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  9. Absolutely gorgeous Anne!!

    Rosie x

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  10. Anne I can't choose a favourite dish which is always a good thing, right? ;)
    Love them all!! Both the dip and the salad sound really refreshing and perfect complement for the spiced lamb patties.
    Thank you for sharing your salad with the Original Recipes Round-Up!
    Can't wait for you to share the sweet potato bites recipe :D

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  11. Hi Anne I cannot find your spiced lamb recipe with cucumber yoghurt dip. I have only just come upon your site and the food looks YUMMYYYYY, Can you help please. Thank you Cheryl

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  12. Hi Cheryl - I've not actualy posted the lamb recipe sorry!! Was one of those 'throw it together' dishes! Was just lamb mince mixed with a mix of dried, ground spices, bound with a little egg. The dip varies but I normally mix grated peeled, deseeded, cucumber, natural yoghurt (I like onken), rice wine vinegar, fresh mint and coriander, plus s&p until you find a balance you like, sorry to be so vague, glad you like my site :)

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  13. hey anne!!..looks i like this recipe..looks real nice will try n let u know how it turned out!..i will appreciate if u visit my blog www.myfoodinn.blogspot.com...i m not as good as u obviously!!..:)

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Thanks for stopping by my kitchen! I love to hear your thoughts and comments on my recipes!

Anne

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