Cumin Beetroot Carrot Salad with Mint Yoghurt Crunch
Cooked beetroot and grated carrot are tossed with orange, cumin and red onion, then finished with mint yoghurt and toasted seeds. It’s earthy, crunchy, cooling and especially good with spiced BBQ meats.
Ingredients
- 300 g cooked beetroot peeled and cut into matchsticks or coarsely grated
- 300 g carrots peeled and coarsely grated
- 1 small red onion finely sliced
- 1 orange zested and juiced
- 1 tbsp red wine vinegar
- 1 tbsp olive oil
- 1 tsp cumin seeds
- ½ tsp ground cumin
- ½ tsp fine sea salt
- ½ tsp cracked black pepper
- 1 tsp honey
- 25 g fresh mint chopped
- 40 g toasted sunflower seeds
- 30 g toasted pistachios roughly chopped, optional
For the mint yoghurt
- 120 g Greek yoghurt
- 1 tbsp lemon juice
- 1 tbsp chopped mint
- ½ small garlic clove finely grated
- Pinch of sea salt
Instructions
Toast the cumin
- Put the cumin seeds in a dry frying pan over medium heat. Toast for 1 to 2 minutes until fragrant, shaking the pan often. Tip them out straight away so they don’t scorch.
Dress the onion first
- Add the sliced red onion to a large bowl with the orange juice, orange zest, red wine vinegar, honey, salt and pepper. Leave for 10 minutes to soften the onion and tint the dressing.
Add the vegetables
- Fold in the grated carrot and beetroot. Add the olive oil, ground cumin and toasted cumin seeds. Toss gently until the vegetables are glossy and evenly seasoned.
Chill for texture
- Cover and chill for at least 1 hour. The carrots stay crisp, while the beetroot and onion take on the cumin and citrus.
Mix the mint yoghurt
- Stir together the Greek yoghurt, lemon juice, mint, garlic and salt. Keep it chilled until serving. Don’t mix all of it into the salad too early, as the yoghurt looks cleaner and tastes fresher when added at the end.
Finish with crunch
- Just before serving, fold most of the mint through the beetroot and carrot. Spoon over streaks of mint yoghurt, then scatter with sunflower seeds and pistachios if using.
Notes
Vacuum-packed cooked beetroot works well here as long as it isn’t sitting in vinegar. Pickled beetroot pushes the salad too far into sharp territory and fights with the cumin. If you roast your own beetroot, let it cool fully before cutting, otherwise it softens the carrots and bleeds everywhere.
Carrots give the salad its structure, so grate them coarsely rather than finely. Fine shreds become limp after dressing. Cumin seeds are worth toasting because they bring a nutty warmth that ground cumin alone can’t manage. Sunflower seeds keep it nut-free if you skip the pistachios.
Nutrition
Calories: 215kcalCarbohydrates: 26gProtein: 7gFat: 10gSaturated Fat: 2gPolyunsaturated Fat: 3gMonounsaturated Fat: 4gCholesterol: 4mgSodium: 430mgPotassium: 690mgFiber: 7gSugar: 15gVitamin A: 12400IUCalcium: 120mgIron: 2mg
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