Check out this brightly coloured, bound to impress salad platter from the author of ‘Happy Food’ Bettina Campolucci Bordi. This dish can be enjoyed on a hot summer’s day, or when you need a nutritious and more substantial salad.
Serves 4
INGREDIENTS
1 batch macadamia ricotta
Lemon juice, to taste
Salt and pepper, to taste
For coating the cheese:
1 tbsp mint
1 tbsp parsley
1 tbsp basil
Pink Himalayan salt and black pepper, to taste
For the beetroot quinoa:
4 small beetroots
440g quinoa
For the salad:
Mixed baby salad leaves
2 oranges, sliced
Bunch of mint leaves
Salad dressing
METHOD
- Use a fresh batch of macadamia ricotta or let it ferment for a day. (The difference between leaving it to ferment or not is the added benefits of the probiotics and the acidic ‘cheesy’ taste it gets from the fermentation process.)
- Then add salt, pepper and lemon juice to the cheese until you have a good balance between salty and acidic.
- Roll out a big piece of cling film and add all your cheese mixture to it – you can choose whether you would like a skinny cheese roll or a bigger one. (It may be nicer to have bite-sized pieces, meaning a skinnier and longer cheese sausage.)
- Once rolled, let it set in the fridge for an hour.
- After an hour, or when it has set, unwrap the ‘sausage’ from the cling film.
- Chop all the herbs on a chopping board or plate, and roll the nut cheese sausage in them, then slice into discs.
- Put the beetroots in a big pan of water with a pinch of salt and let them boil for about an hour until soft. Cool, then purée in a blender until smooth. Set aside.
- Cook the quinoa according to the packet instructions. Make sure you don’t use too much water. You can use the ratio of 1 cup of quinoa to 1 cup of water.
- I start by letting the water boil, then add the quinoa, put the temperature right down, cover and cook until all the water has disappeared.
- Once the quinoa is fluffy and ready, set aside to cool.
- Once cool, gently fold the beetroot purée into the pan until all of the quinoa has been covered.
- Put together the salad by plating the salad leaves and topping with the beetroot quinoa, the orange slices, mint leaves, sliced herbed nut cheese and drizzle with a zesty salad dressing.
Happy Food by Bettina Campolucci Bordi (Hardie Grant) €20
