Wild Sorrel is a really useful herb which we use a lot here at Porthminster. It is especially great in salads and also compliments salty cheese and fish very well. It is similar to Wood Sorrel but has a stronger flavour. Look out for the red stems, as several other plants look similar!
The beetroot and citrus in this salad also work really well with the salty and rich halloumi cheese.
If you don’t have the time to cook beetroots from scratch, you can use the ready prepared ones (as long as they’re not in vinegar).
This will serve four as a starter, or two for lunch.
What You Will Need:
- 4 small beetroots
- 4 sprigs of thyme
- 400 gms of halloumi
- 2 tablespoons of rapeseed oil
- 1 cup of sorrel, preferably wild common
- 1 orange
- 200 gms of mixed salad leaves
- ½ red onion, finely sliced
- ½ bulb of fennel, finely sliced
- Balsamic vinegar and olive oil
- 1 teaspoon of sumac
The Method:
Preheat the oven to 200 degrees C.
Clean the beetroots under cold water, taking care not to pierce the skin. Wrap them in foil with the thyme, a splash of the rapeseed oil, salt and pepper and cook them in the oven until they are soft, approximately 45 minutes.
When they have cooled a little, peel the beetroots and set to one side. While they are cooling, peel the orange, segment half of it and reserve these segments to add to the salad. Place the remaining segments in a blender, along with two beetroots and one tablespoon of rapeseed oil. Blend until smooth and then season with salt and pepper.
Cut the other two beetroots into the desired shapes for the salad. Wash the sorrel and mixed salad leaves and put them in a bowl with the beetroot, fennel, red onion and orange. Dress the salad with the balsamic dressing and the sumac.
Cut the halloumi into 1cm squares, add a splash of rapeseed oil to a hot frying pan and when it begins to smoke, add the halloumi and fry until golden, turning occasionally.
Finally smear the beetroot puree onto the plates, arrange the salad in the middle and serve with the halloumi on top.