Beetroot Salad

This was another recipe I did recently at YogawithEsme's retreat.  It's an old favourite of mine and I love the taste combinations.  As the nights draw in,  some colour is just what we need and this salad provides plenty of that. Good old beetroot, such a powerhouse of nutrients including folate, potassium and manganese.  Not to mention it enables us to make glutathione, a very important antioxidant.  if you're sporty you may well have heard that the nitrates in beetroot help get blood to the muscles.  Oh, and if you have high blood pressure then beetroots may be useful to help lower it.  This image is a paler version, but I use the good old deep red version in the salad.  This is a pretty picture, but the red colour provides some of it's beneficial properties.

You can use the cooked and vacuum packed ones from the supermarket, but I've tried them in this and they just aren't the same as the raw ones in taste.  Oh, warning!! Wear gloves!!

It does contain quite a lot of starchy veg and some fruit so you would want it alongside another green veg salad.  The Brazil nuts in it provide some good fats and protein as well as selenium of course.

Serves 4

• About 20 Brazils

• 4 raw beetroot

• 4 oranges

• handful of fresh coriander

• juice of 1 lemon

• 2 tsps olive oil

Pre-heat the grill and lightly toast the brazil nuts.  Take care not to burn!  Once cool, chop roughly

Grate the beetroot (by hand or processor)

Peel and thinly slice 2 of the oranges.  Mix with the beetroot and coriander in a bowl.

Squeeze the juice from the other 2 oranges and the lemon.  Whisk together with the olive oil.

Pour over the beetroot etc. in the bowl and add the Brazils.

I like this with a rocket salad and avocado as the bitterness goes well with the sweetness!