Roasted Beet, Fennel and Orange Salad with Citron Honey Vinaigrette

I have always been a great fan of beets: having the root raw in salads, steamed or roasted and cooking the greens in soups. This salad is my recent favorite! Beet, fennel and orange perfectly compliment each other in texture and flavor. A lot of recipes called for freshly squeezed orange juice for the dressing, but the oranges in winter do not have the juiciness and sweetness as I expected, I decided not to bother squeezing the juice from the fruits and created my own dressing: Korean Citron Honey Vinaigrette and it tastes awesome with salads!

To make this salad, you need:

• Beetroots, peeled and cut into wedges
• Fennel bulb, thinly sliced
• Oranges, peeled and cut the flesh from the membranes
• Red onion, very thinly sliced
• Salad greens, washed and spin-dried
• Toasted nuts

For the dressing, you need:

• Extra virgin olive oil
• White wine vinegar
• Korean honey citron
• Salt and pepper

Method:

1. Add the ingredients of the dressing into a jar with a tight lid. I often collect slender used jam jars. The slender structure allows me to know the proportion of ingredients added. Proportion of olive oil: vinegar: citron is about 3:4:3. Adjust the proportion to your liking and any remaining dressing can be kept in the fridge for several days.
2. Toss the beetroot wedges with extra virgin olive oil, salt and pepper in a baking tray big enough to lay the beetroot wedges in one layer.
   
3. Cover the tray with aluminum foil and bake in the oven at 200C for 40 minutes.
    
   
4. Remove the roasted beetroot and scrape any pan juice or oil into a large bowl.
5. Pour some dressing into the beetroot and mix well, allow to sit for 10-15 minutes to get the flavor infused.
6. Add the salad greens, orange wedges, fennel and onion into the beetroot, add more dressing if needed and toss.
7. Sprinkle with tossed nuts and serve.