raw beetroot, caraway, lemon balm and mint salad

This big bowl of raw beetroot salad flavoured with caraway, lemon balm and mint is a crunchy super food Summer salad. Beetroot is packed with powerful antioxidants and nutrients. This recipe is inspired by a big bunch of beetroot I needed to use up and some lemon balm I had found while out for a little foraging walk.  Caraway and mint are perfect flavour partners for beetroot - bringing out their earthy sweetness.  The lemon balm adds a fresh, citrus hit to this beetroot salad which also adds an interesting contrast to the earthy beetroot. 

Check out this link for more information about foraging for lemon balm. Remember to be careful when foraging and never pick or use anything unless you are 100% sure what it is.  Here are a few foraging rules to make yourself familiar with if you are going to find this herb in the wild. You can of course buy lemon balm from some supermarkets and may even be growing some in your garden if you are lucky.  

This raw beetroot salad is perfect for a Summer picnic or BBQ and would make a great accompaniment to roast or BBQ meat or fish.   I hope you enjoy and let me know how you get on with making this.   

raw beetroot, caraway, lemon balm and mint salad

recipe by:  chip butties and noodle soup 

preparation time:  10 minutes

ingredients:

1 bunch beetroot (about 4-5 beetroot)

3-4 sprigs lemon balm 

3-4 sprigs mint

glug of red wine vinegar

glug of olive oil

1 tsp chilli flakes

3 tsp caraway seeds

pinch sugar

salt and pepper

method:

1. gently roast the caraway seeds in a pan until they become fragrant then remove from heat.  
2. wash and peel your beetroot then grate.  Be careful as beetroot stains everything pink and gets everywhere - probably not a good idea to wear anything white while doing this! 
3. chop up the herbs then add these to the beetroot with your glugs of oil, roasted caraway seeds, chilli flakes, red wine vinegar, salt and pepper to taste and a pinch of sugar and mix well. Check for seasoning and adjust if necessary.  
4. let it stand for a minimum of 15 minutes before serving to allow the flavours to mingle.  

I have entered this recipe into July's cooking with herbs hosted by Karen at Lavender and Lovage

I am also entering this recipe onto: Four Seasons Food hosted by Delicieux and Chezfoti to go with their BBQ and BBQ sides theme.

I have also entered this recipe into Javelin Warrior's Made with Love Mondays over at Cookin w/ Luv

I have also entered this recipe onto No Croutons Required hosted by Jacqueline at Tinned Tomatoes and Lisa from Lisa's Kitchen.  This month the topic is seasonal salads/soups.  

carrot, orange and caraway cake

This is a combination of some of my favourite flavours and a cross between a traditional carrot cake and a seed cake.  Carrot and caraway have long been used together in savoury dishes and are a perfect match so I thought why not use this combination in a cake...? The pungent aniseed flavour of the caraway and the sharp citrus of the orange zests works well with the carrot, and it is definitely a cake I shall be baking again.  I hope you enjoy it.

300g plain flour
1 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp bicarbonate of soda
200 g soft brown sugar
4 eggs
250ml oil
3 oranges zested
200 g grated carrots
1 tbs caraway seeds
1 tsp nutmeg
1 pinch salt

• heat the oven to 150.c and grease and line a 20cm deep cake tin or 2 1lb loaf tins.
• sift the flour, baking powder and bicarbonate of soda together and then stir in the sugar
• in a separate bowl beat the eggs with the oil and orange zest for a few minutes
• stir in the grated carrots, caraway seeds, nutmeg and salt and then fold everything into the flour mixture
• pour into the prepared tins and then bake for 40mins-1hour (depending on the size of tins you are using)
• it is ready when risen and a skewer comes out clean
• leave to cool in tins for a few minutes before removing to a cooling rack

Eat with a nice cup of tea while watching Strictly Come Dancing on a Saturday night. 

beer and wine bigos

My version of the Polish national dish. There are many recipes for this traditional stew and mine is often added to and changed but this is my basic recipe.

This recipe couldn't be much easier. The hardest bit is chopping the cabbage and waiting for it to cook! Also it always tastes better the next day.....and the day after. Our dad said he could make a pot of bigos last all week adding different ingredients each day and it only improved its flavour. So here we go......delicious and economical bigos. 

Ingredients

1 large jar sauerkraut 

1 white cabbage

1 onion

1 garlic clove

1 tsp juniper berries

1 tsp paprika (I like smoked but any will do)

1 tsp caraway seeds

1 tbs tomato purée 

1 sprig rosemary 

2-3 bay leaves 

250ml red/white wine

250ml beer

200g smoked meat sausages*

(I use Polish smoked kielbasa/kabanos but any smoked sausage/pork would work well - e.g. chorizo)

200g pork (belly, shoulder or ribs would work well or any leftover cooked roast pork)

200g mushrooms (mixture of dried/fresh)

Water if needed

Black pepper to taste 

* the meat can be omitted for a vegetarian option. 

1. Chop cabbage and onion add to pan with all other ingredients. 
2. Bring to boil then simmer until cabbage is tender and cooked down. Cook for a minimum of 2-3 hours on the hob or 6 in a slow cooker. However the longer the better - I often cook on a low heat in a slow cooker for 12 hours. 
3. Add water if it looks like its drying out - but the veg usually creates its own cooking liquid with the beer and wine.
4. This is lovely with potatoes or bread and butter. Smaznego! (as they say in Poland).