Crunchy Raw Beetroot Salad

I received two recipe books for Christmas: Nigelissima and Cook with Jamie.  The first Jamie recipe I made was this Crunchy Raw Beetroot Salad with feta and pear.  Partly because it looks so summery and Christmas-y, and partly because I had 2 beetroots to hand.  I made half quantities, but I'll give the full quantities here, just in case.

Ingredients:
4 good-sized beetroots, 'lovely different colours if possible', scrubbed, peeled, and cut into matchsticks
3 ripe pears (or apples - I used Pink Lady apples), peeled, cored and cut into matchsticks
1 x lemon oil dressing (3 1/2 tablespoons fresh lemon juice, 10 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil, sea salt and freshly ground black pepper - all shaken up in a jar)
sea salt and freshly ground black pepper
200g feta cheese
small bunch of fresh mint, smallest leaves picked
optional: a large handful of sunflower seeds

Method:
Dress the beetroot and pear matchsticks in a little of the lemon oil dressing and season with some salt and pepper.  Taste to check that the flavours are balanced and lovely, and add a little more lemon juice to check the sweetness of the pears and beetroots if you need to.
Divide the salad between four plates or put it on a big platter, crumble over the creamy white feta and sprinkle over the baby mint leaves and sunflower seeds if you're using them.  'Simple, but it's a treat and a half'.  Serves 4.  Apparently.

So... I only had 2 beetroots, so I did a half quantity.  On my 4th day in a row of beetroot salad for lunch - still with 3 serves (or so) to go - I decided that was it.  I couldn't face any more beetroot salad after that.  Actually, I don't think the salad itself could have lasted another day, so I didn't feel too bad.  I was tempted to make some weird beetroot bhaji concoction but decided against it, this time.  I imagine this quantity (as in, half - just 2 beetroots) would serve 4-6 as a side dish.

This also took forever.  Forever, as in, an hour.  I can't imagine turning 4 beetroots and 3 pears into matchsticks, at least not if I'm doing it the old-school way with a knife.

I was really glad I used a large ceramic salad bowl.  I anticipated the beetroots filling maybe a third - I was wrong.  At least two thirds full, before the apples made it in.  This photo doesn't show it, nor does it show the shock and worry on my face.  Yes, I washed my hands thoroughly, and I wore an apron.  Go me.

For all that, though - Jamie totally gets the flavours right.  Sweet, salty, crisp, crumbly - everything balances beautifully.  Which means that I am turning this over in my brain, looking for another, less long-lasting, less-time consuming, method of getting these flavours together again.

Expression of Gratitude

By 'Expression of Gratitude' I don't mean compliments - although they do come in the same category for my brain.  I take things as they are, and really have to think about saying 'well done' or 'thank you' or 'nice outfit'.  With practice, I am getting better at compliments.  I am also improving, I think, at saying thank you.  But expression of gratitude, on a deeper level, is uncharted territory for me.

I know that 'counting your blessings' is a good mood-booster (lots of 'o's in those three words).  I also know that an expression of gratitude is a valuable thing to receive.  When I receive a thank you for something I just do, it is such a delight - and sometimes, as much a blessing for me as it is for the person saying thank you. 

Recently, I have been feeling especially thankful.  A few things prompted me to write a letter to the people at the heart of things.  Although I'd been thinking about this letter frequently, I found it exceptionally hard to write.  I'm still not convinced it's the best it could be so I haven't yet sent it - but almost.  It is more for me than for them (selfish, I know, but some things need to be done), for me to say, I'm not just here because I haven't found a reason to go, but I'm here because I want to be here. 

This is not something I can do too often, but I feel it is an important skill to have in my repertoire.

Today's photo:

My dad had a roast beetroot and feta salad for lunch.  Once finished, I found the beetroot juice pattern left on the plate to be particularly appealing.

Sauce

Ok, some of my changes are happening because I've been less organised than intended.  Or, something has not happened as I expected.  This week was one of those where I meant to put avocado on my shopping list.  Making my lunch for Tuesday on Monday night, though, I realised there was no avocado in the house.  There was, however, an unopened jar of macadamia sauce.  My parents often stop at the nut factory at Yandina on their way to Brisbane, and they have to support the local economy.  I scored a jar of this sauce not too recently, and as I didn't have any avocado for my salad, this went over my chicken.  I don't think it will replace avocado on a permanent basis, but the salad was tasty.  There was a bit too much vinegar sort of taste for me to love it.