My Square Frying Pan

A Melbourne Food & Travel Blog Made With Love!

  • Home
  • About Me
  • The Recipes
    • Cakes & Desserts
    • Chicken & Pork
    • Gluten Free
    • Red Meat
    • Salad & Sides
    • Seafood
    • Soup
    • Themed Dinner Parties
    • Vegan
    • Vegetarian
  • Travel
    • Overseas Travel
    • The Weekend Warrior
  • Contact
You are here: Home / All recipes / Beetroot, Persian Feta, Walnut and Rocket Salad

Beetroot, Persian Feta, Walnut and Rocket Salad

April 8, 2016 by By Gillian Leave a Comment

 

Beetroot, Feta and Walnut Salad

Growing up in Australia, my childhood is dotted with fond food memories of beetroot. Specifically, tinned beetroot – the quintessential addition to any Australian dinner table or BBQ.

I remember my blood red fingers stained from dipping into the tin to pull out the sweet, tangy disks floating in their crimson liquor. The haphazard splashes of beetroot juice on my clothes that would not come out in the wash but faded to a neon pink reminder, long after the beetroot was eaten.

I remember towering salad sandwiches generously stuffed with chilled beetroot, where deep purple hues bloomed along the edges of fluffy squares of white bread, made by the lunch ladies at the local primary school canteen.

I remember rivers of beetroot juice running down the inside of my arms, deliciously swirled with BBQ sauce, tender beef patty drippings and sweet caramelised onion which was mopped up by an oversized, sesame seeded bun.

IMG_8237_FA

 

Once I started travelling overseas though, I realised that beetroot was mostly an Australian thing. Friends looked at me with vague amusement and confusion to straight out offence when I insisted on adding beetroot to a burger (provided I could even find them in foreign supermarkets). But, why? They would plead needing to understand my affection for this Mediterranean root plant.

Beetroot, Feta and Walnut Salad

David Chang of Momofoku fame most recently described Australian burgers (with beetroot) as the worst in the world – a little harsh I thought, more an acquired taste like vegemite or Dr Pepper perhaps? One theory about why the beetroot appeared on the Australian burger was that it started as a joke played on American soldiers stationed in Australia during the Second World War. If this is indeed true, the joke was on us because the humble beetroot somehow found its way into the heart of suburban Australia and never left.

Given my love of tinned beetroot, it isn’t really surprising that I was 27 years of age (the birth year I moved to Melbourne) when I tried my first fresh beetroot. Its earthy flavours were foreign to me as I tried them in dips, in roasts, in chutney and chocolate cake but I’ve come around, to a point.

While I conclude that there’s room for both in my life as my personal tastes have developed, the tinned beetroot is still number one and, I still eat it out of the tin with my fingers when no one is looking.

Beetroot, Persian Feta, Walnut and Rocket Salad

Serves 4

 

4 handfuls of rocket leaves

2 handfuls of spinach leaves

half a cup of fresh mint leaves chopped

1 cup snow peas stringed and split

400g tinned beetroot wedges

½ cup of Persian feta

½ cup whole walnuts toasted

 

Method

  1. Dry toast the walnuts in a fry pan for a few minutes until fragrant and set aside.
  2. Toss the rocket, spinach, mint, snow peas, feta and beetroot slices together and drizzle with a little extra oil from the marinated feta.
  3. Add in the walnuts and serve salad its own or with lamb or roast chicken.

 

Email, RSS Follow
Pin It
« Naked Wedding Sponge Cake with Passionfruit Curd and Fresh Cream
Pumpkin and Sweet Potato Red Thai Soup »

Filed Under: All recipes, Vegetarian

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Time limit is exhausted. Please reload CAPTCHA.

Gillian_Saxon_Round

Oh Hello!

Hi there! I'm Gillian - a freelance writer based in Melbourne. Welcome to my food and travel blog, My Square Frying Pan. You'll find rustic style recipes here made for sharing with your nearest and dearest alongside posts on culinary adventures, travel and musings down memory lane.
  • Facebook
  • Instagram
  • Linkedin
  • Pinterest
  • Twitter

fork

Subscribe to My Newsletter

fork

Picture This

Load More...
Follow on Instagram

Popular Posts

Berry Christmas Pavlova

Pavlova

Summer Treats

Chocolate, Coconut and Loganberry Ice Cream Terrine

Ice Cream Terrine

Winter Eats

French Cider Chicken Stew with Kale Chips

French Chicken Stew