Punchy Citrus Beets

Hi everyone, Now, I was once like you. Beetroot is strictly for Nan's and those who begin stories with "it wasn't like that in my day". Well this blushing beauty of a veg has an unnecessarily bad rap. It's great. Roasted with balsamic, it's a beautiful vegetable that brings sweet earthy flavours to any dish. 

This recipe however, is a nice salad build around the sweet vs citrus battle with a bit of taste but tickling saltyness thrown in there for good measure. It's great and also very filling. 

It's quick it's easy and the ingredient list is super short, we adapted this one from Jamie's 5 ingredients book, hence the inherent simplicity. 

Total time: about half an hour. 

Serves: 4

Ingredients: 

600g raw baby beetroots 
2 Oranges
1/2 bunch fresh tarragon, (I'm sure dried would work too)
100g Feta 
40g Walnuts, unsalted and cut in half
2 chicken breasts
Red wine vinegar 
1 tbsp olive oil 

Method; 

1. Heat a pan of slightly salted boiling water, halving any larger beetroots first, place them in to cook for 15-20 minutes, save any leaves you may have from the beetroot.
2. squeeze the juice of half of one orange into a large bowl with the olive oil and a good splash of red wine vinegar, (probably about a teaspoon). 
3. Peel and slice your 1 1/2 remaining oranges into rounds and arrange on your plates
4. about 10 minutes before you serve, season your chicken breasts and place them in a griddle pan on a high heat, turning every few minutes until cooked through but juicy. then leave to relax until you serve. 
5. Drain your beetroot and then rinse in cold water. They should now be cool enough to rub the skins off. I would wear rubber gloves as beetroot stains, big time!
6. Half your now peeled beetroot and toss in the dressing. Try one or tow of them and season to taste. Remember a lot of the salty flavours will come from the feta later on.
7. Pick the tarragon and toss with any beetroot leaves you have left. Arrange this with the beetroot on top of the orange slices then crumble over the feta and walnuts. 
8. Slice your chicken breast diagonally and lay the slices on top of the beautiful salad before drizzling with a tad more extra virgin olive oil. 

This salad takes you on a great journey, from citrus, salt sweet and just all round flavour. 

Thanks for looking, please leave any comments below.