The secret of great salads is to mix a range of crunchy, crispy, creamy textures with a good balance of tart, sweet, savoury and bitter flavours.
Keeping these tips in mind any salad is a starting point for something else. In this case, swap the spinach for rocket, lambs lettuce or watercress; try a goat curd or labne instead of blue cheese; add fresh mint leaves instead of dill. You could even change the sweet earthiness of beetroot for roasted chunks of sweet potato, or roasted onion quarters. But keep the seasonal focus of autumn’s fruits and nuts - apples or pears; walnuts or hazelnuts.
Apple, beetroot and walnut salad. Photo - Liliya Kandrashevich/Shutterstock
What you need
1 bag of baby spinach leaves
2 apples
4 beetroot, cooked and cooled
Handful walnuts, toasted
100g creamy blue cheese, such as gorgonzola
Sprig of dill
1 tablespoon apple cider vinegar
1 tablespoon extra virgin olive oil
1 tablespoon walnut oil
1 teaspoon maple syrup
1 teaspoon Dijon mustard
What to do
1. Shake oil, vinegar, maple syrup and Dijon mustard in a jar until well combined and creamy.
2. Core and slice the apples, and chop beetroot into chunks.
3. Toss apples, spinach leaves, beetroot and nuts with some of the dressing.
4. Arrange on plates then crumble blue cheese over, with a few snips of fresh dill and a final drizzle of the dressing.
Come with us
We’ll be visiting the apple-growing region of Bilpin on our Collectors’ Plant Fair Day Tour, March 28, so you can buy some freshly-picked apples to make this salad! Details: 1300 233 200 or www.rosstours.com/collectors/.
We hope you have enjoyed this article so far.
One of the many benefits of Garden Clinic membership is full access to our website. Members please log in to view the complete articles.
If you are not a Garden Clinic member and wish to access our website as well as enjoy the many benefits of membership, including access to our Helpline 7 days a week, please visit the link below to join us.