Popular NZ foodie Lauraine Jacobs reckons this is her most popular salad recipe. Beautifully cooked vegetables are the best part of a meal. This bright fresh vegetable salad with contrasting crunch and flavour adds a real hit of colour to your table.
To make Lauraine’s Salade Rouge, you will need:
5 small red capsicums, seeded, stalks and membranes removed and cut into wedges
3 small red onions, peeled and cut into wedges
4 medium beetroot
4 large carrots, peeled and cut into neat diagonal slices
2 large acid-free tomatoes
juice of 1 orange and zest cut into thin strips and blanched for 2 minutes
1 tablespoon liquid honey
1/4 cup olive oil
salt and freshly ground black pepper
fresh basil leaves to garnish
Preheat the oven to 180 degrees and roast the capsicums and onion wedges until soft (around 25 minutes) then set aside. Boil the beetroot for 40 minutes or until tender, cool then remove the skins. Cut into chunks. Cook the carrots in salted water with a pinch of sugar for around 10 minutes until soft but not mushy. Keep aside. Wash the tomatoes well and cut into neat chunks.
To make the dressing, mix everything together in a small screw-top jar. Place the vegetables on a large white platter, and drizzle the dressing over. Garnish with a few torn basil leaves and serve at room temperature. Serves 10-12.
Lauraine’s Salad tip:
Prepare everything in advance then refrigerate it, but bring back to room temperature before serving.
Get yourself a copy of Lauraine’s latest cookbook: The New Zealand Vegetable Cookbook. A must-have addition to every healthy kiwi kitchen.