Our friends at Green Kitchen Storie created this salad in collaboration with Swedish/Italian family company Zeta. They are launching a new range of organic whole grain mixes . Since grains can be a little colourless, they asked Green Kitchen Stories for a delicious recipe that looked stunning (no pressure, right). Luise and Elsa share a deep love for Italy and Italian flavours and they truly indulged in that while creating this salad.
The grains add a nourishing base for this salad and they are tossed in pesto for extra flavor. They add sunchokes that are roasted until buttery soft and mix with thinly sliced raw, crunchy chioggia beets (aka candy cane or polka beets) and radishes. Of course they threw in some mozzarella and pine nuts (influenced by Italy!), and added red grapes for sweetness. All in all, it’s a real beauty of a salad, it is very nourishing and tastes just as good as it looks.
The idea of mixing chioggia beets with radishes for a colourful kick is shamelessly inspired by some of the salads in Erin Irelands instagram feed (worth checking out btw!).
Mediterranean 5-grain Salad with Sunchokes, Beets & Mozzarella
Serves 4–6
1 bag (250 g / 1 1/2 cup) Zeta organic 5-grain mix (Farro, Barley, Kamut, Brown Rice and Oat Groats), or grains of choice
500 g / 1 lb sunchoke/jerusalem artichoke
2 chunks mozzarella di bufalo
4 polka beets (chioggia) or yellow beets, peeled
1 bunch radishes, rinsed
200 g / 7 oz red grapes, halved
1 handful pine nuts, lightly toasted
2 handfuls rucola/arugula
1 bunch fresh basil
Pesto dressing
5 tbsp green pesto
2 tbsp cold-pressed olive oil
juice from 1/2 lemon
Preheat the oven to 200°C / 400°F. Rinse and brush the sunchokes (don’t bother peeling them) and cut them in 5-10 mm (1/4-inch) slices. Place the slices in a bowl, drizzle over olive oil and toss them until everything is covered in oil. Spread out the slices on a baking sheet covered with baking paper. Roast for 30-40 minutes or until soft with crispy edges.
Meanwhile, cook the grains in a large sauce pan filled with salted water, following the cooking time on the package. Drain any excess water and scoop the grains back into the sauce pan.
Stir together the pesto dressing and pour over the grains in the sauce pan. Make sure they are all covered and then pour the grains out onto a wide plate or salad bowl.
Layer with sunchoke slices and torn mozzarella chunks. Use a mandolin (or sharp knife) to shave the polka beets and radishes very thinly and spread on top of the salad together with pine nuts, grapes, rucola/arugula and basil.
