Balsamic Roasted Beetroot and Citrus Salad

Ingredients

• 400 - 500g beetroot, trimmed, peeled & sliced
• 1 onion, peeled & sliced
• 2 tbsp balsamic vinegar
• 2 tsp red wine vinegar
• 1 grapefruit
• 2 large oranges
• 1 (400g) tin of chickpeas, well rinsed and drained
• 1 lemon
• small garlic clove, minced
• 1 avocado
• 50g baby spinach leaves
• 50g rocket leaves
• half lime
• extra virgin olive oil
• salt & freshly ground black pepper

Instructions

Roast the beetroot

1. Turn the oven on to 200 C. Grease an oven dish with a little extra virgin olive oil. Add the beetroot slices into the dish. Pour over two tablespoons of balsamic vinegar and two teaspoons of red wine vinegar. Scatter over half the sliced onion. Drizzle over some extra virgin olive oil and sprinkle with salt and freshly ground black pepper. Cover the oven dish either with a lid or tin foil. Bake in the oven for about 1 hour or until a knife slices through the beetroot easily. Take out and allow to cool for at least 15 minutes.
Segment the grapefruit and oranges
2. 
The larger the fruit the easier it is to separate its flesh from the pith and membranes. Start with the grapefruit. With a sharp finely serated knife, slice off the top and bottom of the grapefruit so that flesh is exposed on the top and bottom. Place the grapefruit flat on a plate and slice down the sides in strips so that you are fully slicing off the peel and pith and. With the peel and pith fully removed, cut out each segment from the membranes. It’s not easy to do and it doesn’t have to be perfect. Discard the peel, pith and any pips you discover in the segments. Do not discard the juice that will fill up the plate, you can pour this over the salad. Repeat the same process for the oranges. You can do all this while the beetroot is roasting and just cover the plate of your segmented citrus and juices until ready to use.
Make the Chickpea Dressing
3. This chickpea dressing is basically hummus without the tahini, watered down a little. Feel free to use your favourite shop-bought hummus and just thin it out a little with a spoon of water - or use your favourite recipe for hummus. Blend until smooth the drained chickpeas, 1/4 cup of extra virgin olive oil, 2 tablespoons of fresh lemon juice, 4 tablespoons of cool water, minced garlic clove, a half teaspoon of salt and a half teaspoon of ground cumin.
Prepare the rest of the ingredients

4. Stone, peel and slice the avocado, and sprinkle with fresh lime juice and salt. Drizzle a quarter teaspoon of extra virgin olive oil over the salad leave and sprinkle with some lemon juice.
Put it all together

5. Divide the salad leaves between two plates. Add the avocado, the roasted beetroot, the orange and grapefruit segments and drizzle over their juices over the two plates. Scatter over the remaining sliced onions. Spoon over some of the chickpea dressing. Sprinkle over a little lime juice and then drizzle a little balsamic vinegar and extra virgin olive oil over the salads. Lastly, add a sprinkle of freshly ground black pepper.