Not Another Food Blog

Canned beets make a good salad

Next time you go through your pantry and find a lonely can of baby beets don’t look away. You only need few more ingredients and you’re on the way to make one of the easiest and tastiest salads ever.

Roasted beets, lamb and goats cheese salad
Serves 3 hungry mouths

1 can baby beets, whole or quartered if possible
400gm lean lamb loin/fillet
1 large salad bowl of baby spinach
1 cup loosely crumbled goats cheese
½ Spanish onion, thinly sliced
1 1/2 cloves garlic, crushed
fresh thyme, about 1 tsp of leaves
olive oil
salt, pepper

Dressing
3 tbsp good quality balsamic, aged, or reduced on slow heat
4 tbsp olive oil
½ teaspoon sea salt
pinch of cracked pepper
½ clove garlic, crushed

1. Pre-heat the oven to 200C. Cut beets in halves, toss in a bowl with a dash of balsamic, pinch of sea salt and some olive oil and roast in the oven for about 20-30 mins, toss half way through. Just use any roasting pan or tray.
2. While the beets are in the oven, rub the lamb loin with salt, pepper, paprika if you have it, crushed garlic and olive oil. Set aside until the beets are 10 mins away.
3. Mix the dressing ingredients in a bowl with a fork and toss it through the spinach and Spanish onions.
4. Heat up some oil in a frying pan until very hot and place the lamb to fry on each side for 3-4 minutes, reduce the heat a little. Rest the lamb after cooking for a few minutes and then slice to add to salad. It should still be pink on the side.
5. Add roasted beets, lamb slices, thyme and goats cheese to the salad and mix through. You can add some walnuts if you like.

Enjoy with a glass of Pinot Noir!