Beetroot salad - mustard vinaigrette

Even in the winter, salad is a lovely part of a meal. Some people like pickles with their meals, but I prefer salad. Of course there is no stopping you having both.

Yesterday we had a sit down weekday lunch, one of those lunches where everyone eats something different, even though you’re eating at home.  My plate housed a mixed green salad with avocado, asparagus and watercress using the Long Family dressing, a traditional olive oil, vinegar and garlic dressing. I also put together a quick beetroot salad. I’ve posted the recipe before as one of my hors d’oeuvres posts.

I used to go to the green grocer, and to market stalls and beetroot would be bubbling away on a camping stove

, the earthy smell wafting along the road, drawing me in. Freshly cooked beets were ready to buy, and when you came to use them the dry outer skin could be rubbed off, revealing the rich deep red flesh ready to eat, sweet and cool. The supermarkets sell small versions of the larger lovely beets and both can be wonderfully dressed with a mustard vinaigrette. The onion is essential, and the longer it sits in the dressing with the beetroot the better – but it is still pretty good straight away.

Beetroot Salad Recipe

Four small beetroot or equivalent

One small onion

Mustard vinaigrette

• Slice the beetroot to suit – I like it diced
• Finely chop the onion
• Mix with vinaigrette

Vinaigrette

Large teaspoon Dijon mustard

Large pinch salt

Generous grindings of black pepper

I tbsp wine vinegar

2 tbsp light oil (sunflower or similar)

• mix salt, pepper and mustard
• stir in the vinegar until it is well combined
• stir in oil until dressing looks like a loose mayonnaise

Variations of ingredients and methods

• Walnuts and parsley are delicious additions to the salad
• A little whisk makes combining the mustard dressing easier

Hors d'oeuvres

mustard dressing looks a bit like mayo

carrot with lemon juice

This is a wonderful pairing to start a meal - hors d'oeuvres, starters, antipasti, entrees, or what have you. I favour something fresh to kick off with, and these two do the business. 

Carrot, coarsely grated, with the juice from half a lemon squeezed over it. The quantity of carrot can range from a small bowl to a large one, don't bother with more lemon, so long as you are going to let the carrot sit for a little while - the carrot juice joins in with the lemon, and there is plenty of dressing. I don't season it, because I like it as it is. If you want to add anything, just add a few pinches of coarsley ground pepper, anything else is superfluous.

Cooked beetroot is sweet and succulent. I am happy to use the vacuum packed stuff, or fresh cooked. I enjoy the horror film element of prep, as your fingertips go alarmingly pink and the beets leek luridly red juice. I sometimes slice, other times cube them, and add chopped onion and a mustard dressing, with finely chopped parsley if I've got it. 

Mustard vinaigrette

1 tsp dijon mustard

1tbsp wine vinegar or lemon juice

2 - 3tbsp oil

pepper and salt

stir the pepper and salt into the mustard

add the vinegar and stir a bit more

add the oil, stir until combined, and add more or no more oil, according to taste

You will end up with an emulsified mixture, perfect for beetroot, or any salad actually. A beautifully simple salad dressing.

I don't use olive oil, I think it's a waste, and it makes the dressing a little too rich.

celeri remoulade

When I lived in Paris I used to treat myself to celeri remoulade from the traiteur every now and then. Once I'd got a job. It was long ago and far away, and I never thought to look for it in the supermarket, but it's never the same. It is one of my fantasy foods, and for a long time I've tried to make it, and failed. I think I thought it was all more mysterious than it is. I've finally done it.

Celeriac is an unattractive veg, usually about the same size as a large swede, or rutabaga as they call it in the US. It's very knobbly and a bit slimy when you peel it, in general it's rather weird. When you buy it avoid one with any soft bits if possible. If you find any, just cut them out.

What does it taste like? The flavour is particular, it is sweet, slightly rooty, with a little touch of aniseed. The texture in remoulade is firm, a bit like a part cooked carrot, because the veg is blanched and then steeped in the dressing. So you have to make it in advance.

I've seen recipes which add capers or gherkins into the sauce. Go ahead if you like that kind of thing. The remoulade that I like is a very mustardy maionnaise. I make it with a whole celeriac, which is enough for a week or a party of people as a starter. So I'm giving the recipe for a quarter of a large celeriac - make the rest into soup (recipe to follow).

1/2 small red onion, finely chopped
1 tsp dijon mustard
2 heaped tbsp maionnaise
1/4 celeriac (peeled)
pepper and salt

• Cut the peeled celeriac into strips/matchsticks no more than 2mm across, or grate it. You could use a peeler to make shavings. (I cut it with a knife, it's a kind of meditation) 
• Pour freshly boiling water over the prepped celeriac and let sit for a moment then drain thoroughly - this softens it a little but not too much
• Prepare your maionnaise mixture to taste
• Mix together the celeriac, finely chopped onion and mustardy mayo taste and adjust seasoning, adding a squeeze of lemon juice if it seems too rich.
• If you have the patience let the mixture sit for a while for the flavours to soak in.

Eat as part of a mixed salad. Goes particularly well with sliced cooked beetroot and cucumber. You could prep it as part of a hors d'oeuvre with champignons a la Grecque.

Lately I've been mixing my maio with 0% fat Greek yoghurt, which is also very nice. 

Champignons a la grecque

Making mixed starters (or assorted horses dovers^(sic) as they are known at ours)  for a family gathering I returned to an old favourite, champignons a la grecque,  a quickly made cooked mushroom salad. Although I think of this dish as something for the summer, it works very well in the winter, the dressing is lightly acid and softly spicy, and the mushrooms have a fleshy firmness, and stay surprisingly pale. Best of all this recipe is wonderfully simple. It's taken from Elizabeth David's French Provincial Cooking, almost verbatim. Having made a swift stab at trying to find a similar recipe in Greek recipes (in translation, of course), and came up with nothing. So, I'll keep looking, out of curiosity. In the meantime it's a lovely little recipe for a tasty little dish.

It's very nice on its own with a piece of toast, or with some hummous, or as part of a mixed hors d'oeuvres. At this time of year it's a nice and light little something to go with roast meat, hot or cold. 

Cooking notes

Resist the temptation to add more liquid, it really isn’t necessary, even though it looks like there isn't much there.
You can substitute two tinned tomatoes or two large spoonfuls of chopped tomatoes for the fresh ones. It may make extra liquid, but it will reduce down.

On the same basis, it’s worth using a nice olive oil, but not necessarily the best, as it'll lose its body once it's boiled to reduce it.

RECIPE

Large bowl of small mushrooms, around 180g (or large ones cut in quarters)

juice of half a lemon

tsp of coriander seeds

1 tsp of peppercorns, cracked

Large pinch of salt

3 tbsp olive oil

3 tbsp water

2 peeled and chopped tomatoes

·        Shake off/rub clean the mushrooms

·        Put the mushrooms into a bowl and sprinkle with the lemon juice and shake gently, and set aside

·        Put all the other ingredients into a pan and bring to the boil, simmer for a couple of minutes

·        Add the mushrooms and any juice in the bottom of the bowl

·        Bring to the boil, cover and simmer for five minutes

·        Take out the mushrooms and set aside back in bowl

·        Boil the liquid, uncovered until it’s  reduced by half, then pour it over the cooked mushrooms, stirring gently to mix

If you like you can sprinkle a teaspoonful of finely chopped parsley over the mushrooms, or a mixture of parsley and fresh coriander. It adds a little something, and looks pretty.

That’s it.

My mixed starters included mushrooms a la grecque, celery remoulade, sliced cooked beetroot and sliced cucumbers, roast veg, green salad. For meat lovers I included some mixed salami.

houmous

I ate houmous on Samos, but only once, as part of a mixed plate. I was so greedy I didn’t really concentrate on the flavour and texture. I love chick peas, and often make houmous at home. It ends up much smoother than the stuff you buy ready-made, and cheaper. You can also adjust the flavours as you like. It’s worth having a jar of tahini in the cupboard anyway – that’s the sesame paste used with the chick peas.

I’ve given up on food processors too, it makes washing up more complicated. I just use a stick blender.

Recipe

Ingredients

1 can chick peas (400g)

1 peeled clove garlic

2 tbsp virgin olive oil

2 tbsp (heaped) tahini paste

Lemon juice (to taste, fresh is best but you can use bottled, approx 2 tbsp)

Hearty pinch of salt

Method

• Blend everything together until you have a smooth paste.
• Allow mixture to sit if possible, as the garlic flavour deepens.

I like to serve it draped with a drizzle of the best olive oil and a tiny sprinkle of sweet paprika.

Eat

Great with toasted pitta bread, toast or crackers. I like it on a plain digestive sometimes.

Use leftovers to stir into soup or hot rice.

Variations

Add cumin and fresh coriander or roast peppers and sundried tomatoes to the blend.