Beetroot & Goats Cheese Bites

Image Leave a comment 03/11/2020 the wee caledonian cook

I recently visited Transylvania Shop & Coffee in Glasgow, https://www.transylvaniashopandcoffee.co.uk/, the shop opened this year and they are so passionate about their home produce and Country. Everything that you could wish for from Transylvania, Romania, they have it. Their selection is vast and all excellent quality produce, from grocery store to a cake store to even coffee, yes they have it all. If you are a foodie and love seeking out new products then this shop is for you. If you are a massive Dracula fan, like me, and just love everything Transylvanian then you must visit this shop, you will not be disappointed.

On my visit I decided to try out some Romanian Meats, Cheeses, Coffee and of course their awesome selection of cakes, honestly, I have never seen anything like it……mouth watering flavours and designs that just take your breath away.

Coming soon is a season of get togethers and this gives us the opportunity to share all things food. I believe food brings people together, whether it’s just around the table in your home or different families & friends coming together for a celebration, there is always food around. With the recent Lockdown situations this year it has definitely given people more time to spend at home and to find their new love of food, be it baking with the kids or experimenting on using up store cupboard essentials to create new recipes, we have all tried something new. I would like to help with this journey and give you some new ideas. Please have a look around my blog, hopefully you will find your inner chef too!

This recipe brings both of the above together, I used a fabulous Romania Goats Cheese from the Transylvania shop and harvested some Beetroot from my garden to make these little bites, they are perfect for that get together event, or even just a simple snack for something different with the family in your home.

Beetroot Harvest — Romanian Goats Cheese

Makes about 20

About 4 Medium Sized Beetroots – Pre cooked

100g Goats Cheese (preferably the LaColline)

Handful of Pistachio’s or Walnuts, chopped

Cocktails sticks to hold together and a choice of your cutter shape (I used a star from my cookie cutter selection)

Using a cutter, cut out the beetroot and goats cheese into your desired shape. Make sure the Beetroot is slightly bigger than the goats cheese. Stack the goats cheese on top of the beetroot, sprinkle your choice of nuts/seeds and secure with a cocktail stick. Refrigerate until ready to serve.

Black Pudding, Beetroot & goats cheese salad

Image Leave a comment 06/10/2020 the wee caledonian cook

Black Pudding, Beetroot Salad & Goats Cheese Salad

I’ve loads of Beetroot growing in my garden just now and perfect season for it too, so decided on a little treat for lunch today. Certainly beats the Ryvita’s….lol.

Beetroot is packed with essential nutrients, beetroots are a great source of fiber, folate (vitamin B9), manganese, potassium, iron, and vitamin C. Beetroots and beetroot juice have been associated with numerous health benefits, including improved blood flow, lower blood pressure, and increased exercise performance.

Perfect pairing with Beetroot for me is definitely Stornoway Black Pudding & Goats Cheese, just so yummy! I served with some Homegrown Spinach too.

Serves 2

4 large Beetroots – Cooked and Sliced into bite size chunks

60g Goats Cheese

4 Slices of Black pudding

1 tbsp Balsamic Vinegar

Pinch salt

1 tsp Mixed Herbs

Handful of Spinach – chopped

Sunflower & Pumpkin Seeds to top

Place Beetroot into a bowl, add balsamic vinegar, salt & mixed herbs and mix through.
Cook Black Pudding in a pan on medium to high heat for about 3-4 minutes each side with a little oil. Remove and pat dry, break up into bite size pieces and add to beetroot and mix through.
Chop up the spinach and lay on a plate, top with the beetroot and black pudding then tear the goats cheese over and serve with pumpkin & sunflower seeds.

Plate of Black pudding, Beetroot & Goats Cheese

Roasted Beetroot Salad

Image 1 Comment 10/08/2020 the wee caledonian cook

As you may know I started my very first Raised Vegetable Beds this year, it’s something I’ve been wanting to do for a while but as the story goes, we work & we work and never seem to find time to start anything. This was the year that I was finally going to put a plan of action together, ordered my raised beds, got them all painted and treated, filled them up, planted the seeds and waited. I can’t tell you how exciting it was to see my first little green shoot pop up.

I love Beetroot, so that was the first seed planted and I am now starting to harvest them. Oh my, freshness, freshness, freshness…..there is nothing better that eating straight from your garden, I harvested some yesterday and decided on a lovely refreshing salad today for my lunch.

How to Roast Beetroot

First wash all the mud etc off of the beets and trim of the stalks & leaves, but keep the leaves aside for later. If not using straight away, store in a perforated plastic bag in the salad bins in your fridge, these will keep for about 2 weeks.

Beetroot & Beetroot Leaves Storage in Fridge

Using Tin foil, place the Beets (with the skin on) on and sprinkle a little olive oil & salt, wrap up into a parcel, not too tightly as you want the steam to help cook the beets, then bake on a tray in centre of your oven at 200 deg for about 45 minutes.

Remove and allow steam to escape from parcel then allow to cool slightly. At this stage, I advise to wear gloves, you WILL get Beetroot stained if you don’t…lol! With gloves on gently rub the skin and you’ll notice it comes away very easily, remove all the skin and slice into wedges or bite sized pieces. Yum!

Using the saved leaves, these can be cooked just like Kale. Bring a pan of water to the boil add a little salt and blanch for a few minutes, remove and drain excess water through a colander/sieve. I love the colour of the water here too.

Place leaves in a bowl with beetroot, squeeze some lemon juice and 1 tbsp balsamic vinegar over and mix. Sprinkle over some Goats cheese or Feta cheese and chopped walnuts to serve.

You could also cook some couscous or bulgur wheat to add to make it a more filling bowl.

A Bowl of Roasted Beetroot, Beetroot Leaves, Goats Cheese, Walnuts

Smoked Duck Salad

Image Leave a comment 19/03/2016 the wee caledonian cook

Using my Rainbow Carrots and lovely Beetroots from my local Farmers I wanted a lovely salad for lunch today as the sun was shining, I had recently bought some Smoked Duck Breast from my local farm store which was already cooked, so combining everything I had the most amazing Saturday lunch Salad.

1 Cooked Duck Breast (from Fencebay) – sliced

1 Carrot – sliced longways into thin strips

1 Beetroot – sliced thinly

Fresh Salad leaves (of your choice)

Small handful of Feta Cheese

Small handful of Walnuts

1 tbsp Balsamic Vinegar

1 tbsp Good Olive oil

1 tbsp Hoisin Sauce

Mix together salad leaves, carrot, beetroot, balsamic vinegar and olive oil in a large bowl.
Place salad mix onto a plate
Top with crumbled feta cheese and sprinkle crushed walnuts over top.
Place sliced Duck breast on top and drizzle Hoisin sauce over duck.

This is do tasty and quick, very healthy and amazing flavour sensation in your mouth. All in 5 minutes. Yummy!

Tasty Veg and Goats Cheese Salad

Image 3 Comments 11/10/2015 the wee caledonian cook

Serves 1

1/2 Aubergine – Cubed

1/2 Red onion – diced

1 Tomato – cubed

1 tbsp lemon juice

1/2 garlic clove

1/4 tbsp Walnut oil

Salt & Pepper

1/4 cup of crumbled goats cheese

1/4 cup (30g) toasted walnuts – chopped

2 tbsp chopped parsley

1/2 tbsp sesame seeds

To make the dressing mix the lemon juice, walnut oil and garlic in a bowl with salt and pepper.
Steam the aubergine for 10 mins. Squeeze any excess water. (If you have a Luce Combi microwave use the vegetable setting to steam)
Combine the Aubergine, goat cheese, walnuts, tomato, red onion, and parsley in a large bowl with the dressing. Season with salt and pepper. Sprinkle the sesame seeds on top. Serve with a tasty glass of Chardonnay.

Pan Fried Salmon with Veg & Herb infused Wild Rice

Image Leave a comment 13/08/2015 the wee caledonian cook

Serves 1 Approx calories – 450

FOR THE SALMON

1 piece of Salmon

1 tsp butter

Small tbsp chopped chives and sage

Squeeze of lemon juice

Salt and pepper

1. Slight melt butter, Mix all ingredients together and rub into salmon.

2. Heat tbsp oil in a griddle pan and pan fry for about 6-7 mins until cooked through.

FOR RICE

50-60g wild rice

Handful green beans chopped

Red onion diced

1tsp thyme

1 tbsp chopped basil

1 tsp balsamic vinegar

Salt and pepper

6 walnuts chopped

4 baby plum tomatoes halved

Small portion goats cheese

2 fresh baby beetroots quartered

1. Cook rice in a pan of water for about 15 mins, 2 mins before ready add in the green beans.

2. Meanwhile fry the onion with the balsamic vinegar and thyme.

3. Add onion mix to rice once ready along with tomatoes, walnuts, beetroot and some basil mix through then crumble goats cheese on top and serve.

Yummy!

Beetroot, Goats Cheese and Walnut Salad

Image Leave a comment 11/11/2014 the wee caledonian cook

One of my favourite Salads.

Serves 2

150g Salad leaves of your choice – I had spinach, flat leaf parsley, red chard mix

2 x Fresh Cooked beetroot, sliced into strips about 5mm wide (you can use tinned beetroot also)

50g goats cheese

50-75g walnuts – toasted lightly in pan

50ml balsamic vinegar

1 tbsp lemon juice

1. Mix balsamic vinegar, lemon juice season with salt and pepper in a bowl. ( leave out a small drop)

2. Throw leaves into the bowl and mix together

3. Serve onto plate, throw on beetroot, walnuts and crumble cheese over

4. pour remaining dressing over……..and serve with a lovely glass of chardonnay. (or white wine of your choice) (or glass of chilled water)

THE WEE CALEDONIAN COOK

DISCOVERING MY INNER CHEF

goats cheese