Recipes
Second course
Roast
Roasted beet and horsegram salad with feta

Roasted beet and horsegram salad with feta

Roast

Roasting

Horse gram is a lesser known variety of lentil that is used a lot in South India. Chock full of nutrients, I often use them in place of the more common green or brown lentils. I find that unlike other lentils, they hold their texture upon cooking; meaning, they are slightly more forgiving when it comes to cooking times without going all mushy on you. Lentils of any kind are the most versatile building blocks for salads. They also have this amazing ability to absorb all the flavours that you pair them with, which is perfect here since I’ve used a bold dressing—dijon mustard, red wine vinegar (immensely satisfying because it’s the same colour as the beets), garlic, lime juice, and extra virgin olive oil. There is nothing lacklustre about this lentil salad! Horse gram, upon cooking, has a slightly bitter undertone. The beets, when roasted, have an earthy sweetness to them. The feta, umm because it’s feta, is salty. The dijon mustard is pungent and the lime and vinegar, sour. So in a really roundabout way, all I’m trying to say is that even with such pronounced flavours, there’s balance. And heaps of flavour. This is meant to be a side dish, but if you’re anything like me, you’ll probably find yourself eating the whole lot of it for dinner. *Adapted from Donal Skehan