AVOCADO, BEETROOT & BREAKFAST RADISH SALAD, Vegan

Cool AND Beautiful: delightful salad making the most of summer...

Avocado, Beetroot & Breakfast Radish Salad 
'The nicest most refreshing salad with really stunning flavours.' Taster

Beetroot is a wonderful vegetable; it tastes fabulous, has a myriad of health benefits and makes anything it is teamed with look marvellously picturesque. 

The root is low in fat/calories (great for weight loss), is full of vitamins and antioxidants and has masses of good fibre (great for the digestion).  It also sports high levels of folic acid - a boon for pregnant women.

This thrown-together summer salad teams beetroot with avocado and breakfast radishes (the long ones - though ordinary radish will do) and an orange-flavoured balsamic dressing in a winning combination.  A bit more of this salad veg and a little less of that won't be a problem.

The salad has lovely layers of flavour and texture; crunchy leaves contrast delightful with creamy avo and mellow beetroot. 

This will make great picnic food alongside cold eats; pack the ingredients separately and assemble on site.

Cost: £2.50'ish
Serves: 4 good-sized portions; recipe multiples easily

Ingredients:
    2 med cooked beetroot, thin outer layer peeled, cut into 1/2in/1cm cubes (cooked from raw or packaged is fine)
   1/2 avocado, peeled, in 1/2in/1cm cubes, with half a lemon squeezed over it and seasoned with pepper & salt
   handful of breakfast radishes (the long ones have less heat but ordinary radish will do) thinly sliced (at an angle with the long ones)
   a generous couple of mugs chopped lettuce leaves, rinsed & dried (any will do)
   2 generous handfuls grated carrot

(The salad is wonderful with the above ingredients but you can also add a handful of cooked peas and corn niblets.)

 Balsamic Orange Vinaigrette 
     3-4 tbsp good olive oil
     1 tbsp balsamic vinegar
     good pinch salt and 1/8 tsp pepper, pref. coarsely ground
     1 rounded tsp Dijon mustard
     zest one orange
     1-2 tbsp orange juice

Method:

Salad: 

1. Toss all ingredients except beetroot together
2. Layer thus in a clear glass or wide bowl: veg, a scattering of beetroot,  another layer of veg & beetroot and so on, finishing with beetroot
3. Pour over dressing, aiming to moisten, not overwhelm
4. Extra dressing can be served on the side

Dressing:

1. Pour ingredients into a jar with a tight fitting lid and shake until thick and blended. 
2. Check & correct seasoning.  
3. For a creamy dressing, add 1-2 tbsp yoghurt

Comments:
'One of the nicest most refreshing summer salads I've come across; really stunning flavours and textures.' Retired writer

Tips:

• Beetroot is credited with helping to lower blood pressure, prevent dementia and suppress some forms of cancer.  It is, however, high in sugar; including it as a visual accent provides all the health benefits without going overboard on the sugar front
• From the Daly Telegraph 2016: Reasons for Eating Beetroot and how to Cook it

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This recipe has been developed by B  Lee/ Bright Sun Enterprises and may not be reproduced, in any form, without the author's written permission.