Baked Beetroot & Carrot Salad with Brown Butter Vinaigrette by Little Chef & Little Market

by croatiaweek
October 17, 2017
in Food & Wine

Little Chef

Warm and cold, sweet and bitter, traditional and contemporary. Earthly aromas, exciting textures, and incredible tastes. A real colouring book on the plate. This dish is everything but boring. With a pinch of culinary secrets revealed by Little Chef we serve new fantasy on your table. Bon appétit!

LITTLE CHEF & LITTLE MARKET: BAKED BEETROOT AND CARROT SALAD WITH BROWN BUTTER VINAIGRETTE

This opulent autumn salad is full of dramatic colours, pure tastes, and contrasting textures. When you mix warm, sweet and crunchy vegetable with bitter rocket and exciting brown butter vinaigrette, the result is incredible lunch, dinner or side dish that doesn’t have to be always boring.

Little Chef

Beetroot and carrot salad is the best proof that traditional and contemporary could go hand in hand. On one hand there are well-known root vegetables, and on the other hand, there is brown butter – dragging us out of culinary comfort zone. This French classic, known as beurre noisette, intensifies the taste of any food and when you add some vinegar tingle and almonds into it, you will get vinaigrette that you can use not only this time but also with various seafood, vegetables, and pasta.

For most of us, beetroot experience was limited to glass-jar preserved one, over last few years its versatility became to be appreciated. Similar in taste and texture, carrots are perfect partners for beetroot. Baking will make their sweetness stronger while keeping earthly aroma, and last but not least, baking will make these vegetables more nutritious. Both beetroot and carrot are naturally inclined towards spices. Before baking, marinade both in olive also, and let your imagination lead your choice of spices. Chillies, curry, cumin, coriander, powdered fennel or Mediterranean herbs blend are just some of suggested spices that will emphasise the beauty of these roots.

BAKED BEETROOT AND CARROT SALAD WITH BROWN BUTTER VINAIGRETTE
INGREDIENTS FOR 4 PERSONS:

12 carrots (OPG Bastašić from Žumberak)
500 g beetroot (OPG Bastašić from Žumberak)
1/2 cup olive oil (OPG Džaja)
2 cloves garlic (SD projekt)
half tablespoon dried rosemary
salt and petter
4 tablespoons butter
2 tablespoons sherry vinegar
1 tablespoon water
2 tablespoons almonds (OPG Džaja)
fistful of rocket (SD project)

Little Chef

DIRECTIONS:

1. Peel beetroot and cut to smaller pieces. If small cut to quarters. Peel carrots.

2. Marinate beetroot and carrots separately, so that carrots do not turn pink. Mix olive oil, crushed garlic, dried rosemary and cut vegetables. Leave it for half an hour.

3. Heat the oven to 200°C. Take vegetables out of the marinade, add salt and pepper, and bake until softened, for around 30 minutes.

4. In the meantime, prepare brown butter. Use bright colour pot and put cold butter in it. Heat at high temperature and mix constantly using balloon whisk. Butter colour will gradually change from lemon yellow to golden to golden-brown. When smell becomes nutty remove from heat. Be extra careful towards the end because delicious brown butter can burn easily. It took me 5 minutes to process this quantity. When done pour into another pot.

5. Blend butter, vinegar, water and 2 tablespoons of almonds; mix until all ingredients are blended. When done, add salt and pepper to taste.

6. Baked vegetables serve on plates with rocket and vinaigrette. Add some chopped almonds on top if you wish.