This crunchy beetroot and carrot salad is packed with colour, texture, and bold flavour. It’s tossed in a bright citrus and vinegar dressing that lightly pickles the vegetables, then finished with loads of toasted seeds, nuts, and fresh herbs. The creamy yoghurt and fennel dressing on the side adds a cooling contrast and pairs beautifully with the sweet earthiness of the beetroot. It’s the kind of salad that gets better as it sits, making it perfect for prepping ahead.

raw beetroot and carrot salad with herbs

Raw beetroot is delicious, but I feel it needs the carrot, other fresh herbs, seeds and nuts to make it interesting. You could add cheese, but I’m trying to observe my calorie intake, so left the crumbly feta out.

I made a dressing with orange and lemon juice to give it zest. The salad literally sucks it all up. An extra fennel and yoghurt dressing adds a cool and tart dimension to top it off.

raw beetroot and carrot salad with herbs, almonds, sunflower seeds

This salad could be served with any grilled meats, lamb or fish. I ate it on its own and loved the textural contrast of the cold and creamy with the crunchy.

This is one of those salads you can adapt to your own taste. I hate to waste the top green stems of a fennel bulb, so I finely chopped about 1/2 a cup of that in too. I also added a good 2 tablespoons of fennel leaves along with the bunch of fresh parsley. I probably would have added fennel bulb, but I’d shaved it all onto my fennel and radish salad. After mixing the salad in a bowl and allowing the dressing to soak in, I served it on a bed of wild rocket leaves which adds to the flavour.

*cooks notes ~ try and cut the carrots and beetroot as finely aspossible. If you have a mandolin or food processor to do this it will help. Check the seasong and adjust as you go along. You could add more chilli if you prefer a little kick.

Recipe – make one large salad inspired by Ottolenghi’s raw beetroot and herb leaf salad.

Prep Time:20

Ingredients

Salad

3 cups of beetroot finely cut into julienne
3 cups carrots finely cut into julienne
½ cup finely chopped fennel stalks
2 Tbsp chopped fennel leaves
½ cup toasted almond flakes
½ cup toasted sunflower seeds
¼ cup toasted sesame seeds
bunch of parsley about 20g – stalks and leaves, roughly chopped

Salad dressing

zest and juice of one orange
3 Tbsp lemon juice
3 Tbsp red wine vinegar
3 Tbsp olive oil
salt and pepper
pinch of dried chilli flakes
yoghurt dressing
¾ cup Greek yoghurt
¼ cup crème fraiche
2 tsp lemon juice
2 Tbsp chopped fennel leaves

Instructions

Toss the beetroot, carrot and chopped fennel in the salad dressing and leave to soak for 10 minutes. This can be made in advance and left in the fridge.
Toast all the nuts and seeds by dry frying them (separately) in a non stick frying pan or roasting them in the oven. Set aside.
Chop the parsley.
Mix up the yoghurt dressing ingredients and decant into a bowl to serve on the side with the salad.
When you are ready to serve the salad, lay a handful of rocket leaves on the bottom of a serving platter or bowl. Toss ¾ of all the seeds / nuts, plus the parsley through the salad and tip into the bowl.
Garnish with the remaining seeds and nuts and serve.