Only brightly coloured, great tasting food can make a bright sunny afternoon even better.
This perfectly easy and super impressive platter of beet carpaccio will go down a treat at any tapas gathering, barbecue or just as a healthy afternoon snack.
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I was never allowed to cook beetroot until I left home. My Mum insisted that cooking a beetroot was akin to making candles…you were inevitably going to loose a pan and make an unforgettable mess…unforgettable because both beet juice and candle wax are ineradicable.
So once I had my own home I risked it for a biscuit – in a pan. It will not be the first time my Mum has been right but it was probably the most disappointing time.
I LOVE beetroot and want to eat it ALL the time, but vinegar hates me and the shrink wrapped ones or canned ones, as much as they are easy, they are just nowhere near as good.
Then I learned to wrap them in foil and roast them in the oven and all of my beetrooty dreams came true. Fresh beets without the casualties and with the added bonus of the lovely leaves!
Of course this was all short lived because then I set off on a drive around the globe and no longer have an oven, just at the point that you can pretty much buy fresh beetroot EVERYWHERE you go!
Distraught at the thought of going back to eating pre-packaged beets I tossed a double wrapped beet in the fire one day and risked loosing all of my fingerprints by lovingly peeling back its wrapper every 10 minutes to check it wasn’t burning. And it paid off. After 30 minutes in a corner of the firepit just far enough into the coals so as not to catch fire and close enough to me to turn it regularly, I had a BBQ roasted beet.
Of course, you could keep your fingerprints and roast your beets at home before you leave for this one, but give it a whirl sometime, the BBQ gives the beet that smoky flavour which is quite unique in this dish.
Recipe
Serves 2 as a snack or 4-5 as tapas
2 or 3 roasted medium beets, I like to do 1 purple and 1 or 2 golden
To roast in an oven, drizzle with oil, sprinkle with s&P, wrap tightly in foil and roast at 400F / 230C for 35 minutes to 1 hour depending on size. A skewer should slide in once cooked.
A good fistful of rocket / arugula or watercress or both.
Caramalised onions – Onion, a sprinkling of sugar and a knob of butter.
| Thinly slice onions, I prefer red onions, add to a melted knob of butter in frying pan. sprinkle with a little oil to stop butter burning and fry on medium heat until onions brown and soften, can take up to 20 minutes. Sprinkle with a little brown sugar and stir through until melted. Transfer into a bowl to cool.|
Goats cheese or Parmesan to dress.
Olive oil
Directions
1. Wash and dry your green leaves and scatter prettily onto 2 plates or a large platter if sharing. Sprinkle with a little S&P.
2. Thinly slice your roasted beets as wafer thin as you can get em and layer beautifully on top of your leaves. Alternate the colours if you can and pretty as you go.
3. Scatter crumbled goats cheese or shave Parmesan on top, drizzle with olive oil and if desired, crack some black pepper over the lot or add a few drops of balsamic reduction here and there.
4. Serve with the caramalised onions separately or you can scatter these on top too, I try not to hide the great colours too much though.
Enjoy the ooh’s and aah’s of your guests as you serve such a pretty platter of goodness and relish in the inner smugness knowing it took just a snip of effort.
