Brooding upon Beetroot

There are few things that I do not enjoy, but beetroots are one of them. I was recently left at home for a few weeks guarding the dog, veg patch and beehives whilst the parents bag Munros in Scotland, and had been told that whilst they were away, I could tuck into the courgettes (numerous) the runner beans, the french beans, the tomatoes, the potatoes and the beetroot. I felt a sense of responsibility, with this selection of veg, that I should consume and enjoy all of it and not let it go to waste. However, there’s enough veg for a family, not for one person and so I had to come up with ingenious ways of using the veg up, or storing it away for when there are more mouths to feed.

And so we come to beetroot. My nemesis. I was introduced to it in its old fashioned form – boiled, skinned and then doused in vinegar and to me it tasted of sugary mud that had been… well doused in vinegar. Since then, I have come across it boiled but not vinegary and have drawn similar conclusions and so I left beetroot and decided that I hate it. Sadly, I couldn’t avoid it and upon joining a veg-bag co-operative I felt duty-bound to use up the 4 or 5 beetroot that would lurk in the bottom of the bag until I could ignore them no longer. Thus I discovered the joys of “Prickley Green Salad”, so called because of the place of its inception, not because its particularly prickly, or indeed green. This is a salad of grated beetroot that is apparently a favourite of Kate O’Mara and it’s just super juicy and tasty, I use it in sandwiches or tuck it into a pitta bread with some houmus and other bits and bobs. 

Prickley Green Salad is fairly simple so its easy to make, but scrummy-yummy to eat.

You will need -

2 Beetroots. (raw, peeled and grated)

1 Onion (raw and diced)

A handful of raisings or sultanas (more if you like your salad fruity)

Equal parts of olive oil and either white wine vinegar, lemon juice or cider vinegar. I would suggest 2 tablespoons each, BUT as this is salad you can always have less or more (as long as its equal quantities) depending on how big your beetroots were!

Basil. A few sprigs, or a teaspoon of dried basil.

Simply mix it all up and then eat it!

(adapted from a recipe by Sarah Brown)