The Purple Salad

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Purple Salad.

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This is a salad you won't have had anywhere before. Dragon fruit, figs, beetroot drizzled with my "20-minutes sweet pickled onions", watermelon, crumbly goat cheese and extra virgin olive oil - it is a salad with an explosion of varying tastes and textures. 

Take this to the table and hear you diners go "ooh and wow".

Cooked and dressed right, beetroot will neither smell nor taste earthy. I dress them in my '20-minutes sweet pickled onions' and the beetroot is transformed into sweet and gently sour discs that taste awesome with salty chevre.

Salty goat cheese goes with sweet, so I chose 3 fruits that have different levels of sweetness and varying textures:

• watermelon for its juicy crunch
• dragon fruit for its soft bite and seeds with an enjoyable munch (reminds me of 'Pop Rocks', those pin sized candy that fizzles and crackles as soon as you put them in your mouth)
• figs for its luscious mouthful (almost as if you are eating double whipped cream but healthier)

There will always be something interesting to bite into in this salad. All it needs is some good bread.

I am out to the market whilst I have some time. I need to get myself some magenta coloured dragon fruit before it goes off season again. No prizes for guessing what I would be having for dinner.

THE PURPLE SALAD                                                           

Prep:	20 minutes
Cook:	1 hour (beetroot)
Inactive:	20 minutes
Level:	Easy
Serves:	6
Oven Temperature:	400F 200C (beetroot)
Can recipe be doubled?	Yes
Make ahead?	Beetroot can be roasted 2 days ahead. Sweet pickled onions can be made 1 day ahead.

Just the ingredients 2 medium beetroots  1 small magenta-coloured flesh dragonfruit 8 small wedges of watermelon 2 figs 1 round of soft goat cheese or use feta 2 - 3 Tablespoons extra virgin olive oil for drizzling '20-minutes sweet pickled onions' 1.76oz (50g) thinly sliced purple onions 1 and 1/2 Tablespoons sugar 2 Tablespoons lemon juice 1/2 teaspoon salt Optional Parsley for sprinkling

Ingredients

2 medium beetroots
Try to keep the width of the beetroot and dragon fruit the same size. Just because it looks prettier when plated.

1 small magenta-coloured flesh dragonfruit

• The flesh of the dragon fruit comes in 2 colours: white and magenta. The exterior of the fruit looks the same so the grocer will label the fruit bin to indicate if the interior is white or magenta coloured . 
• What do they taste like? Mildly sweet and refreshing. White fleshed ones are not as tasty.
• Try to keep the width of the beetroot and dragon fruit the same size. Just because it looks prettier when plated. 

8 small wedges of watermelon

Refer to picture.

2 figs

1 round of soft goat cheese or use feta

2 - 3 Tablespoons extra virgin olive oil for drizzling

'20-minutes sweet pickled onions'
Scroll down to 'Tips' for more ways to use this.

1.76oz (50g) thinly sliced purple onions

1 and 1/2 Tablespoons sugar

2 Tablespoons lemon juice

1/2 teaspoon salt

Optional

Parsley for sprinkling

Method

Roast beetroot

4 hours before your are ready to serve the salad (or up to 2 days before), heat up the oven to 400F (200C) oven rack adjusted to middle position. Wrap the beetroot in aluminium foil. It should look like a UFO.  Hot air circulates within the package and helps speed up cooking. That is what I am told anyway.

Bake 1 hour. Beetroot is cooked when you can easily insert a skewer through it. Unwrap and when it is cool enough to handle, peel off the skin which can be pretty fun. Slice the beetroot as thinly as you can manage. A mandolin is best. Any straggly bits should be cut into thin batons. No point wasting and it can be used to plug in any holes on your plated salad.

Cover and refrigerate.

'20-minutes pickled onions'

Combine all the pickling ingredients. Set aside for 20 minutes or up to 1 day ahead refrigerated.

The aim is to get the onions sweet and to lose some of its sharpness. So taste the pickling onions and decide if you need to adjust seasonings or pickle them longer. It depends in part on the type of onion and lemon you use. 

More liquid would be drawn out from the onions the longer it sits in the pickling liquid. You need the liquid to drizzle over the beetroots.

Assembling the salad

Slice the dragon fruit.

Quarter the figs.

Arrange the beetroot, dragon fruit, figs and watermelon in anyway you think it would look pretty but keep them separate. Why?

Beetroot: Keep most of the surface area of the beetroot exposed as you would have to drizzle the sweet pickled onions (with pickling juice) over the beetroot (not the fruits).

Watermelon: The acidity in the pickling liquid will draw too much moisture out from the fruit. That's why I keep the watermelon furthest away from the beetroot.

Dot with crumbled goat cheese, sprinkle with parsley if using and dribble extra virgin olive oil.

Serve immediately as the beetroots will start to bleed soon enough. That's when crusty bread comes in handy to soak everything up.


Tips

'20-minutes sweet pickled onions' are great in:

Mango Salad With Salmon & Scallops Ceviche

Roasted Beetroot Salad With '20-minutes Sweet Pickled Onions'

And, over fried fish!
WHAT'S COMING UP NEXT?                                           
These cheese filled rolls seasoned with fennel seeds, onions and parsley are brushed with extra virgin olive oil and baked instead of fried so that I don't feel too guilty eating them.