Tuesday, August 2, 2011

Carpaccio of beetroot, blood orange, walnuts, feta & baby herbs


I find myself pottering about the kitchen, bare feet upon the floor and nose deep within cupboard doors searching for morsels to temper my hunger. My belly is now rotund enough to balance mugs of ginger tea or the spine of a book, although I exercise caution should the little one within decide to abruptly squirm, causing whatever may be resting above to be catapulted into the air like a geyser.
As Spring approaches, along with my due date, I treasure the days I have left to myself where I have only my own whims to tend to (when my husband is at work). Before long my hours will be filled with the needs of my child and long durations spent in the kitchen making time-intensive dishes will fall a few rungs on my ladder of desires no doubt. So it is in these moments before the impending change that I take pleasure in a sunny afternoons stretched out with pots and pans and sinks filled with the remnants of a not-so-simple meal which makes the sitting down to eat it all the more enjoyable.


ease: 3.5/5.
prep time: 10mins (prep everything else whilst beetroot cooks and cools).
cooking time: 50mins.
total: 1hour.

taste: 4/5. A salad to get excited about.

The earthy sweetness of the beetroot touched by woody time, peppery ginger, bitter orange and warming spices with the depth of red wine pairs beautifully with the creamy saltiness of goat's cheese, crunchy walnuts and vibrant blood orange. I didn't have any micro herbs but I can imagine they would only create an even more complex flavour combination that would be delicious; your taste buds will never get bored.

I peeled my beetroot before boiling them. My beetroots also took at least 40mins before they were tender all the way through.  I also didn't bother whipping the feta and used a lot more than 60gm (perhaps 100g?) and I also doubled the amount of blood orange segments.

would I make it again: Yes.

recipe: http://gourmettraveller.com.au/carpaccio-of-beetroot-blood-orange-feta-and-baby-herbs.htm

6 comments:

  1. Beautiful! What lovely colors and flavors.

    Cheers,

    Rosa

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  2. I love the gorgeous vibrant colours of this salad, so beautiful, and I especially love that it includes blood orange - my favourite.

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  3. This look fantastic! Yet another thing to add to my must cook list.

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  4. Delicious! Good idea to get a bit of time-intensive cooking done before bub arrives. You won't know when you'll get the chance again. Hope the last few weeks go quickly for you!

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  5. Blood oranges are beautiful, aren't they? What a super purple concoction this is! Love beets too. Enjoy your free hours while you have a chance....things are going to get very busy around there!

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  6. Looks and sounds incredible -- I am a little obsessed with blood oranges 8)

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