The New Zealand Restaurant Cookbook has been well used in the Bite kitchen. Delaney Mes had the unenviable task of choosing just 50 restaurants to featurerecipes from, and she has done well, providing a great selection of fine dining and casual eateries, with recipes ranging in difficulty levels. It's as good as having New Zealand's best chefs at your fingertips giving a masterclass on their popular restaurant dishes. This beetroot salad from Grey Lynn's Siostra is a favourite and we're very happy to have the recipe.
Freekah mix
| 100 g | Freekah (Main) |
| 50 g | Red quinoa |
| 50 g | White quinoa |
| 50 g | Black quinoa |
| 75 g | Sunflower seeds |
| 75 g | Pumpkin seeds |
| 30 g | White sesame seeds |
| 30 g | Black sesame seeds |
salad
| 4 | Beetroot, large, peeled (Main) |
| 1 | Olive oil, for drizzling and frying |
| 250 g | Radicchio |
| 200 g | Rocket |
| 1 | Radish, sliced thinly |
| 100 g | Pistachios |
Beetroot dressing and goat's cheese
| 1 | Garlic bulb, confit, see chef's note below |
| 1 Tbsp | Dijon mustard |
| 1 Tbsp | Pomegranate molasses |
| 1 Tbsp | Honey |
| 1 | Orange, zest and juice |
| 2 Tbsp | Dukkah |
| 150 ml | Sherry vinegar |
| 50 ml | Balsamic |
| 300 ml | Olive oil |
| 200 g | Goat's cheese |
| ½ | Lemons, zest of |
| 1 handful | Fresh herbs, chopped |
Directions
1 For the freekeh mix, place freekeh in a pot with 1½ cups cold water. Bring to the boil, reduce heat and simmeruntil tender, about 10 minutes. In a separate pot combine red, white and black quinoa with 1½ cups cold water. Bring to the boil, reduce heat and simmer until tender,about 10 minutes. Drain cooked freekah and quinoa and cool. Toast seeds in a small frying pan with a little olive oil and salt. Combine freekah, quinoa and seeds.
2 Heat oven to 180C. Chop three of the beetroot into 3cm chunks, toss in olive oil and season with salt and pepper. Roast for 1 hour then cool.
3 Slice remaining beetroot into paper-thin slices using amandolin. Heat oil to 180C in a deep fryer and fry a few slices of beetroot at a time, turning carefully with tongs to cook for a few seconds on each side. Drain on paper towels until ready to assemble.
4 For the beetroot dressing, whisk garlic, mustard, pomegranate molasses, honey, orange zest and juice and dukkah together, then whisk in vinegars and oil. Season to taste with salt and pepper.
5 For the goat’s cheese, mix cheese with zest and herbs,then roll into balls.
6 To assemble the salad: separate off some large radicchio leaves to form bowls, and chop the remainder. Mix rocket, chopped radicchio, radish, roasted beetroot and freekeh mix together. Dress generously, and season to taste with salt and pepper.
7 To serve, arrange goat’s cheese balls around the outside of each plate of salad, and garnish with beetroot crisps and pistachio nuts.
Chef’s note: To confit garlic, preheat oven to 130C. Squeeze garlic cloves from skins. Place garlic in a metal dish and pour over canola oil to cover. Cover dish with foil and bake for 2 hours.