Roast Beet Salad with Labne, Candied Walnuts and Orange

I love this salad. It is beautiful to look at and has many interesting textural elements that combine to make much more than the sum of their parts. The hard part is trying to get a bit of everything on your fork! This salad looks nicer on a flat plate or platter rather than in a bowl because it allows you to see everything. You can roast extra beets and make extra quinoa and keep them in the fridge because you will definitely want to make and eat this again, and soon. I also made this salad replacing the quinoa with farro, which I have included a picture of.

with farro

1 bunch baby beets

1 bunch golden beets (optional)

olive oil spray

sea salt

2 handfuls spinach leaves

1 cup cooked quinoa

½ cup candied walnuts

10 mint leaves, shredded

1 orange, cut into quarters and sliced

labne

Preheat the oven to 200 degrees. Trim, peel and halve or quarter the beets. Spray with olive oil and season with salt and roast for 30-40 mins or until tender.

To candy the walnuts, toss walnut pieces in a dry fry pan on medium heat until they start to tast. Remove from pan. Add 2 tspns castor sugar to pan, let it melt then return the walnuts and toss through the toffee. Place on a plate and leave to cool.

Combine spinach, quinoa, orange, beets and mint on a plate. Add walnuts and dollops of labne to your liking. Drizzle with good olive oil and balsamic vinegar and finish with a sprinking of sea salt.