Beetroot, Orange and Feta Salad
Beetroot roasted in foil so it steams in its own juice, dressed while warm, and served against orange, feta and dill. The colours are absurd and the sweetness is real rather than added.
Image note: Illustration, generated by AI · not a photograph of this dish
Don't Make These Mistakes
Foil, not an open tray. Uncovered beetroot dries out and wrinkles rather than steaming tender.
Wear gloves, or accept pink hands for the rest of the day.
Dress it warm, then let it sit. Ten minutes makes a noticeable difference.
Cooking Beetroot, Orange and Feta Salad
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Heat the oven to 200°C / 400°F. Toss the whole beetroot with the 2 tablespoons of oil and the salt, wrap them in a tight foil parcel, and set on a tray.
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Roast 45 to 60 minutes, depending on size, until a skewer slides into the largest one with no resistance.
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Open the parcel carefully — the steam is fierce — and leave until just cool enough to handle.
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Rub the skins off with a piece of kitchen paper; they will slip away. Cut into wedges.
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Whisk the dressing ingredients together and toss two-thirds of it through the warm beetroot. Leave 10 minutes.
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Arrange the orange rounds on a platter, pile the dressed beetroot over, and scatter with feta, walnuts and dill.
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Tuck the watercress around the edges and spoon over the remaining dressing just before serving.
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What's Going On Here
Boiled beetroot leaches its sugars and colour into the water and comes out tasting of earth. Wrapped in foil and roasted, it cooks in its own steam: nothing escapes, the sugars concentrate, and the skins slip off under a thumb. Dressing them while warm gets the vinegar inside rather than around them. Orange is not just decoration either — the acid cuts beetroot's heaviness, and its bitterness from the pith balances the sweetness in a way lemon cannot.
Storage and Reheating
The dressed beetroot keeps 4 days refrigerated. Assemble with the orange, cheese and leaves on the day.
Serving Beetroot, Orange and Feta Salad
- Grilled lamb
- Sourdough and butter
- A glass of dry rosé
What's in a Serving
Per serving, an approximate calculation from the ingredient list. Treat it as a rough guide: where a line offers a choice of foods, only one of them is counted. How the figures are worked out.
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Compiled by Turab
Checked by script for timings, diet labels and nutrition arithmetic. How the recipes are checked. Found a mistake? Tell us.
First published ; last changed .
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