Warm Salad of Mizuna and Roasted Root Vegetables
Inroduction
About this Recipe
By: Sheridan Rogers
We have an abundance of green and red mizuna (Japanese mustard green or spider mustard) flourishing in our local Community Vegetable Garden at present. Similar in taste to rocket (arugula), mizuna is good mixed through stir-fries or added to a leafy green salad, or in this delicious roasted root vegetable salad, given an Asian twist by the addition of toasted sesame oil and sesame seeds. It’s best to use the young leaves – red mizuna, whilst an attractive addition to the vegetable garden, can become very piquant and peppery in taste as it matures.
Ingredients
- beetroot 2 medium
- sweet potato (kumara) 600g-700g, peeled
- purple sweet potato 300g, peeled
- red onion 1 large, peeled
- olive oil 1 -2 tablespoons
- sea salt and fresh ground black pepper
- fennel seeds 1 -2 teaspoons (optional)
- green and red mizuna (or use rocket) 3 – 4 handfuls, washed, stems trimmed
- sesame seeds, toasted 1 – 2 tablespoons
- vegetable oil (such as safflower, bran corn or sunflower) 3 tablespoons
- apple cider vinegar 1 1/2 tablespoons
- honey 1 teaspoon
- soy sauce 1 – 2 teaspoons
- toasted sesame oil 1 teaspoon
- freshly grated ginger small knob, peeled and finely grated
- garlic 2 cloves, crushed
- sea salt and pepper to taste
Preheat oven to 200degC. Wrap the beetroots in foil and place on a baking tray. Roast 20 – 30 minutes. Meanwhile cut the kumara and purple sweet potato into large dice. Slice the red onion into eight wedge-shaped pieces. Place on a separate baking tray, drizzle over the olive oil, season with salt and pepper and sprinkle with fennel seeds, if using. Toss well together to ensure oil coats the veggies. Place tray in oven and roast 25 – 30 minutes. Test beetroot with a small sharp knife. Remove from oven with tongs, take off foil and leave to cool slightly. Slip off skins, then cut into eighths. Set aside. Remove remaining vegetables with tongs when cooked. Leave to cool a little. Place in a serving bowl, drizzle over some of the salad dressing and toss together lightly with the leaves. Be careful not to overdo the dressing. Just before serving, add the beetroot wedges (these are added at the last minute so that they don’t “bleed”) drizzled with a little of the dressing. Sprinkle salad with toasted sesame seeds. For the dressing: mix together all the ingredients in a bowl and combine well, or shake together in a jar. Season to taste.