With the weather getting warmer day by day, I have started hankering more on to light and refreshing foods. I have been eating fresh fruits and salads all throughout the day. Yeah you got that right, I am trying to be more disciplined, while it comes to packing multiple tiffins full of multiple kind of fresh fruits and nuts. This has lasted for 3 weeks now, and I am glad and pretty confident that I’ll continue this for the entire summer this year. Sounds like a new year resolution, which we all know, have got their own unknown fates…ha?

Yeah, it might sound like that, but I’ll try to stick around as much as I can. And that is why, I have been buying a lot of fruits and veggies for salads these days and keep my stock full. Oranges and beetroots have stayed for longer this year. We are still getting fresh and lovely produce. This is a salad recipe which I created out of leftover oranges and beetroots on a Sunday afternoon, when I was done with my Ciabatta baking project {recipe coming soon}.

That rustic bread baking took almost my entire weekend, but I was happy with the results, though I was tired of cooking something else. So, I threw in some whole beetroots in oven to let them roast and cool. I sliced some oranges and jazzed up the salad with a handful of fresh mint leaves.

To added the saltiness, I added some feta cheese and some nuts for the crunch and wrapped up this healthy extravaganza with a honey chili vinaigrette. The flavors came around so well, it was one of a super simple and refreshing salad and nonetheless incredible. I ate some of the leftover salad from the fridge in the evening, and I think it tastes better while cold. Definitely a keeper for those hot summer days!

Ingredients

4 small beetroots
2 oranges
handful of fresh mint leaves
40 gm feta
1/4 cup chopped nuts
1/2 cup extra virgin olive oil
1/4 cup clear honey
4 tsp white wine vinegar
1 tsp chili pepper flakes
salt to taste

Directions

1. Wash and wrap the beetroots in aluminium foil and roast for 25 minutes in a 230 degree preheated oven.
2. Let beetroot cool wrapped in foil.
3. Meanwhile, make the dressing, by mixing olive oil, honey, vinegar, chili flakes and salt in a bowl. Keep aside.
4. When beetroots are cooled enough to handle, peel their skin and slice into flat discs and layer in the serving platter
5. Peel and slice the oranges and layer on top of beets. Sprinkle with mint leaves, feta and chopped nuts.
6. Drizzle the dressing over the salad and or serve by the side.