Beetroot And Pear Salad
Pear And Beetroot Salad
Douglas Mali
Note from Mamta: We had this delicious salad in the summer 2004, when we stayed at the Lunga River Lodge in Kafu National park in Zambia. Their chef Doughlas very kindly wrote down the recipe for me. I finally got around to taking a few pictures as I made it.
The chefs at these lodges prepare pretty exceptional meals from their supplies. They probably have them more regularly these days, but you could see their ingenuity in preparing meals out of fresh and tinned/frozen foods.
Serve 2-3
Ingredients
1 large or 200 gm ripe dessert pear
100 gm. boiled beetroot
Dressing:
2 tbs. good vinegar
1 tbs. good olive oil
1 tbs. very finely chopped basil (tulsi). If you don't have fresh basil, you can use basil pastes/preparations sold in supermarkets
1/4 tsp. sugar or substitute
A sprinkle of rock salt
A good sprinkle of freshly ground black pepper
A little of crumbed goat cheese or Stilton type of cheese (optional)
Instructions
Cut pears and boiled beetroots into big chunks and keep in seperate bowls until last minute.
To make dressing, put all dressing ingredients in a jar with a tight lid and shake well to mix. Keep aside in the fridge.
Just before serving, place beetroot and pear chunks together in a bowl, add dressing and mix. Add cheese and mix if using.
Beetroot should not be added to the pears too soon. Otherwise, its red colour bleeds onto the pears.
Serve with hot bread and other foods.
Also see Salad Selection, Cooking Beetroot, Eating Beetroot.
