Bring spring to your table with this crunchy beetroot apple salad. It also contains toasted hazelnuts, sweet clementines, fresh coriander and creamy cottage cheese. This salad is fresh, healthy, delicious and low in calories.
Is there a perfect time for beetroot? Always. That’s my opinion. I love beetroot. That soft, but at the same time, crunchy enough texture and the sweet and earthy flavour make it special and so delicious.
To prepare this simple salad, you can choose either raw or pre-cooked beetroot. If you pick the raw beetroot, it is better to shortly cook it or bake it until slightly tender. Or, you can slice it very thin and skip the cooking. Wink. But, when enjoying it in wedges, it is better to precook it. However, precooked beetroot is a time saver. You can find precooked beetroot in every supermarket, either cut in a glass or in whole in a vacuumed package. And, it always tastes fresh and delicious.
For more special beetroot meals, check out this beetroot soup combined with raspberries. This soup is perfect for hot summer days. Or also this beetroot salad of red and yellow beetroot. Simply shortly sauteed, in order to keep the crunch, served with creamy burrata. And I am sure you are going to love these beetroot bacon muffins. Wink.
A delicious salad combo
How do you find the combination of beets, apples, clementines, hazelnuts, cheese and fresh coriander? In one way it looks like a lot of ingredients, but on the other hand, it’s just rich in toppings. Wink. Let me tell you. This salad has it all: It’s fruity and sweet, citrussy and earthy, creamy and crunchy. And besides all that, it’s healthy and easy to make, too.
More, just like every dessert, also every salad has to have a crunchy ingredient. Wink. Nuts are one of the best and healthiest choices. For instance, hazelnuts, walnuts, peanuts, almonds or also pumpkin seeds. They all taste great in a salad. My choice were hazelnuts. In order to enhance the hazelnut flavour, make sure to toast them, either in the oven or in the pan.
Also, for an extra fresh kick, I decided on clementines. They bring sourness, fruitiness and freshness to the dish. Oh, and of course, they also add that lovely fresh aroma and smell. I used a clementine, but you can use a mandarine or an orange instead, too. Use freshly squeezed juice for the dressing. It makes all the difference. Wink.
Of course, cheese can’t be missed. I thought a light and creamy cheese pairs well with any salad. That’s why I picked cottage cheese. Instead of cottage cheese, a cheese like burrata, brie or any cream cheese will do great as well. Cheese is just awesome. Wink.
A lovely dressing will connect the whole dish together. A simple combo of olive oil, clementine juice, salt, pepper and fresh herbs, such as coriander, basil, mint or dill, will elevate your salad.
Ingredients for two portions of beetroot apple salad:
- 500 g beetroot (raw or precooked)
- 1-2 apples
- 3 clementines (or mandarines)
- 30 g hazelnuts
- 10 g fresh coriander
- 3 Tbsp of cottage cheese
- 2 Tbsp of olive oil
- salt and pepper
To begin, wash the apple and fillet the clementines. Squeeze the remaining juice out of the clementine in a small cup. Add the olive oil, salt, pepper and fresh cilantro to the juice, stir and set aside.
Preheat the oven to 150°C. Scatter the hazelnuts onto a baking sheet lined with baking paper, put them in the oven and toast for 15-20 minutes.
Then, cut the beetroots and the apples into wedges. Combine them in a bowl and toss them with half of the dressing.
Finally, arrange the beetroot apple salad onto a serving plate, starting with beetroot and apple wedges, clementine fillets and cottage cheese. Top the salad with toasted hazelnuts, roughly chopped coriander and a drizzle of the remaining dressing.
Enjoy.
