Just before I went on MasterChef (which was almost three years ago now) I took up a job waiting tables at Jamie’s Italian. I was only there a short time but I learnt a lot at that restaurant, most importantly the great life skill of how to carry three plates. This salad was a staple on our planks, and one of our most commented on recipes.
Crunchy, fresh and light it’s a good starter, or burger filler for the summer months or a nice palate cleanser for richer mains like slow roasted lamb. It surprised a lot of people to know that it had very few ingredients – just grated root vegetables, a sprinkle of mint and dressed with a Jamie amount of olive oil and some lemon juice.
At its simplest, it’s grated carrot, beetroot and celeriac. It’s been a long time now but I vaguely recall grated butternut being used too. Celeriac has been hard to find so I’ve often substituted apple resulting in what it now affectionately known as the simplest of all sides, the ABC salad. (Here’s another version of an equally delicious ABC salad with avocado, broccolini and capsicum).
As with all super simple recipes, love is in the details so make sure to grate your beetroot last, then rinse it to avoid it staining the other ingredients.
This salad keeps well in the fridge for a few days.
- 1 green apple, peeled and cored
- 2 medium carrots, peeled
- 2 medium beetroots, peeled
- 1 large handful mint leaves, finely chopped
- splash of olive oil
- juice of half a lime or lemon
- Finely grate the apple, carrot and beetroot using a mandolin, grater or a food processor. If you want the salad to retain it's different colours make sure to remove the other ingredients before grating the beetroot, then rinse it to avoid it staining the apple and carrot.
- Combine the apple, beetroot and carrot in a bowl, toss through the mint leaves and dress with olive oil and lime/lemon juice.
This salad looks and sounds sooooo delicious! I’m looking forward to trying it Tash – I just had to pin for later reference 🙂 x
Loving your Pinterest board! Looks like we like a lot of the same things