This winter salad with a beetroot crisp garnish is the starter for a three-course dinner, with a main course of pomegranate venison with celeriac dauphinois, and a pud of whiskied marmalade brioche. The inspiration for this dish came from a starter I very much enjoyed at Le Restaurant de Pays, la Maison Carrier in Chamonix.
NB this serves 8. BUT the root salad (minus the rocket and nuts) keeps quite well (even dressed) for a couple of days. You could make the full amount and eat some later if you are cooking for smaller numbers.
Chamonix Winter Salad With Beetroot Crisps
This dish looks great on a black plate.
Serves – 8
Ingredients
- couple of packets of vegetable crisps – take the beetroot ones out and use just them. Enjoy the rest with a drink before you start
- 1 x parsnip
- 1 x carrot
- ½ a celeriac – or, ideally a pack of ready-grated celeriac
- 1 x 120g bag rocket
- toasted walnuts or pecans (three per person)
- 1 teasp grainy mustard
- 1 tbsp apple cider vinegar
- 3 tbsp olive oil
- 1 tbsp honey or maple syrup (maple syrup for preference)
- ½ pt (about a cup or 250ml) creme fraîche, sour cream or thick yoghurt
- salt and black pepper
Instructions
- Peel/scrape vegetables, then slice super thinly using a mandoline/potato peeler/the wide slicing side of the cheese grater.
- Add dressing and mix well.
- You can serve cold or heat in microwave – about a minute on 700 – at this stage. It’s very good hot, but you need to get people eating it quickly.
- Put rocket around the edges, pile the vegetables artistically inside and scatter nuts and beetroot crisps on the top.
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