This salad is a burst of purple ingredients!
You got wild rice, purple cabbage, French shallots and last but not least, baby beetroots by Love Beets. How adorable is the name of these little nutrients packed vegetables huh?
I was leaning towards making miniature Aussie style burgers with these baby beetroots and out of the blue, a salad inspiration struck when I saw a packet of wild rice which I bought last week still remained untouched.
Not that I need everything to be matchy matchy, but I thought it would be cool to create a purple themed salad based on the ingredients I have on hand. With that being said, I did make a special trip to Harris Farm Market to look for a purple cabbage. Talk about being a lady on a mission ha!
As I intended the salad to be more of a main meal, less of a Sideshow Bob, it has to be hearty and filling. My choice of protein was cumin and coriander spiced beef kofta which would complement the nuttiness of wild rice and earthiness of baby beetroot.
For my salad dressing, well you’ve guess it, it’s my fail-proof yoghurt-tahini sauce which I have featured multiple times on my blog (with minor variations in amongst them). We are huge fans of pairing rice with yoghurt in this household and I tell ya, this salad was so amazing with this sauce!
What’s so special about these baby beetroots by Love Beets? They are no added salt nor sugar and are cooked fresh and vacuum packed to ensure the freshness and flavour. Normally what dissuade me from cooking with beetroot is the process of peeling and cooking, as well as trying to be careful not to stain my clothes during the process. I can be clumsy at times! Hence, I tend to resort to ready to eat beetroot in effort of being fuss free. 
Ingredients
- 150g wild rice
- 500g mince beef
- 1 tbsp dried/fresh breadcrumbs
- 1 tbsp ground cumin
- 1/2 tbsp ground coriander
- ½ tbsp ginger paste
- ½ tbsp. garlic paste
- 1 tsp of salt
- Black pepper
- 125g Love Beets baby beetroot (1/2 packet), quartered
- ¼ purple cabbage, thinly sliced
- 1 French shallot, thinly sliced
- Chopped coriander leaves for garnish
- 2 tbsps Greek Style yoghurt
- 1 tbsp Tahini
- Water
Instructions
- Cook wild rice according to the packet instructions and add ¼ tsp of salt while cooking the rice. Set aside in the pot covered until ready to serve.
- In a large mixing bowl, add mince beef, 500g mince beef, 1 tablespoon of breadcrumbs, 1 tablespoon of ground cumin, 1 tablespoon of ground coriander, ½ tablespoon of ginger paste, ½ tablespoon of garlic paste, 1 tsp of salt and generous amount of black pepper. Mix well until a meat dough is formed and form 12 - 14 oval shaped meatballs. Spray/brush the meatballs with some cooking oil before cooking on the griddle pan.
- Cook the meatballs on both sides until cook through. While the meatballs are cooking, slice the cabbage, shallot and beetroots as well as making the dressing by mixing the yoghurt and tahini in a bowl and slowly add water until your preferred consistency is achieved.
- To assemble the salad, transfer the wild rice onto a serving bowl, scatter the cabbage, shallot and beetroots, followed by strategically placed the beef koftas. Scatter the chopped coriander leaves as a finishing touch. Serve the dressing separately.
To learn about Love Beets and delicious beetroot recipes, please visit www.lovebeets.com.au.
Love Beets® is produced by an Australian family-owned and operated business.
The Love Beets® beetroot is scheduled to arrive in major supermarkets, independent supermarkets and greengrocers from February 2014, RRP from $3.00 for a 250g pack. For a complete list of stockists, call 1800 673 980.
Disclosure: The Love Beets packet was sent to me for sample purpose and all opinions are my own.
Don’t forget to subscribe to Fuss Free Cooking for regular meal inspirations delivered straight to your inbox!
I think you forgot the minced beef in you ingredient list.
Thanks Daniel! I have updated the ingredient list now.
[…] Fuss Free Cooking: Wild Rice, Baby Beetroot, Beef Kofta Salad […]