Bulghur with Roasted Beetroot, Blood Orange and Kumquats. Citrus is just what we need this time of year, a lovely contrast to the grey skies and endless rain.
It’s time for my annual blood orange recipe post. As usual I have been eating as many of them as I can, before they go out of season again. Citrus is just what we need this time of year, a lovely contrast to the grey skies and endless rain we seem to be enduring right now.
Last year I also brought kumquats to the citrus table, following my re-introduction to them during a retreat in Portugal. I was in Portugal again earlier this month, reunited with the kumquat tree and when I spotted them in a local grocers to me in London couldn’t resit picking up a handful. They were hugely expensive but don’t make or break this salad, so do as you feel.
I love the way the beetroot, yellow carrots, blood oranges and kumquats clash in colour, yet still look harmonious together.
I decided to make this blood orange and kumquats dish with whatever grains I could find in my cupboard. It happened on this ocassion to be bulghur wheat (leftover from my stuffed courgettes no doubt), but I am sure would work equally well with quinoa or buckwheat.
The infused oil in the dressing really adds to this salad, as all that lovely citrus flavour from the orange peel, weaves its way through the entire dish. However, if you don’t want to go that extra effort mile, a good quality plain olive oil will work in the dressing just fine.
If you want a reminder on how to suprême a blood orange, check out my video here.
- 120g bulgur wheat, rinsed
- 2 medium sized beetroot, cut into wedges
- 2 yellow carrots, sliced in wedges or roll cut
- ½ red onion, very thinly sliced (use a mandoline if you can)
- 1 lemon, juiced
- 2 blood orange
- 3 tablespoons olive oil
- 1 clove garlic, bashed under the widest part of a chefs knife, skin left on
- Large handful of coriander, split into leaves and stalks.
- 6 kumquats, thinly sliced, pips removed
- sea salt and pepper
- Pre-heat oven on 180ºC, then toss the chopped up beets and carrots in a little olive oil and salt. Place separately on a lined baking tray to avoid beetroot colour bleed. Roast for 35 minutes until tender. Remove and cool.
- Cook your bulghur wheat according to packed instructions. Cook in stock instead of water if you like. When done, drain if there is any excess liquid (there shouldn't be but just in case), and spread out on a plate or baking tray to full cool.
- Marinate your finely sliced onions in the juice of half a lemon and a pinch of salt, this will soften them up nicely.
- Take a couple of strips of peel from one of the blood oranges, and add to a frying pan along with the coriander stalks, 3 tablespoons of olive oil, and the bashed clove of garlic. Warm gently for 5 minutes, don't allow to bubble. Remove and reserve the garlic, then strain through a sieve and cool. Mince the garlic and add back in to the strained oil. Add the juice of the other half of the lemon.
- Suprême the oranges, by removing the peel & pith with a sharp knife, then carefully slice out the segments from the membrane. If this is too tricky, just slice into rounds.
- Now you're ready to put together your salad. Put the cooled bulghur wheat in a large bowl and pour the infused oil & lemon dressing and some black pepper. Add everything else, leaving behind a little of each ingredient to top the salad - cooked beetroot and carrot, blood orange, kumquats, onions and coriander leaf. Taste the salad and adjust seasoning if necessary.
- Plate up and top with toasted flaked almonds (or pistachios!).