Day 51: Beetroot and mango salad with black rice, spinach and walnuts

It’s mango season! Dad loves mangoes and so do my sister and I. What better way to use it than in a hearty and delicious salad?

Black rice gives it a bit of nuttyness, roasted beets provides texture and colour and works well with the brightness of the mango. Adding spinach gives it an extra boost and the nuts and seeds add to the flavour and crunchiness! The acidic dressing helps to cut the sweetness and gives it a bit of zing which takes it to the next level

On the whole, I can assure you that it tastes just as good as it looks

Now my main challenge will be to convince my Dad that a salad can be a meal by itself and not just an entree!

Ingredients

1. 1 large beetroot

2. 1 medium size mango

3. 1/2 cup black rice

4. 10-12 spinach leaves

5. 1 tablespoon apple cider vinegar

6. 1.5 tbsp lemon juice

7. 1 tsp thyme

8. Pinch of pepper

9. Pinch of salt

10. 5-5 walnuts

11. 1 tbsp seeds – any

Method

1. To roast the beetroot first wash it, then pat it dry and cover it with an aluminium foil. Put it in an oven with gas mark 180C for one hour. Let it cool for an hour and then open the foil and cut it into thick cylindrical slices. Cut it into half so it looks like half moons. Keep it in the fridge to cool.

2. Wash the black rice once and then soak it for 10 minutes in 1.5 cups of water. Do not drain the water. Put the rice and the water into a pot and boil for about 15-20 minutes. It will not exactly squish between yourself fingers

3. Wash the spinach and then chop it roughly. Heat a pan and put the spinach in. Stir till it becomes nearly dry. Add a dot of oil and stir. Switch off the gas and leave it to cool.

4. Roast the walnuts on an oven try for about 8-10 minutes. Let it cool and remove the skin and break it smaller pieces.

5. Wash and peel and cut the mango into slices so it looks like thick strips. Put it in the fridge to cool. Do not throw away the bits of mango around the seed. Chop it up, mash it, and put it in a bowl – this will be used later .

If there’s any juice which has come out as a result of the chopping , put that in the dressing mix (next step). It will help to cut the acidity of the cider and lemon juice.

6. To make the dressing, mix the olive oil, apple cider vinegar, lemon juice,salt,pepper and thyme. Add the mango juice, if any, to this dressing.

7. To make the salad, it goes into layers as follows:

bed of black rice

layer of mango mash

layer the half moon beetroots -put half of the dressing on top of the beetroots

put the mango strips length wise

put the pan fried spinach

throw some walnut pieces and seeds on top

now put the balance half of the dressing on top.

It makes a pretty picture doesn’t it?!?

Enjoy!