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New year’s recipe: Beet and fennel salad wrap with tangy avocado orange dip

ThinkstockPhotos-478926298– By Tenille Hoogland

After an indulgent December of “just one more treat — it’s Christmas,” we aim to turn over a new leaf in January with consistent training and healthy foods. There is no better food to turn to than the beet. The beet and its greens are rich in fibre, stimulating healthy bowel functions. It also has very high levels of antioxidants. If the greens are hard to find in some parts of Canada in the middle of winter, use spinach, swiss chard, or lettuce in this recipe.

Ingredients: Avocado orange dip

fresh raw avocado

1 avocado

1 clove garlic

1 tbsp jalapeno pepper, chopped finely

1 tbsp ginger (grated)

1 tbsp orange rind (grated)

1 lime, juiced

1/2 tsp salt

Peeled orange, close-up

2 tbsp grapeseed oil

 

1 tbsp white balsamic vinegar

Directions

Add all the ingredients to a food processor or bowl and blend until smooth. Use a ripe avocado to create the desired consistency.

Ingredients: Beet Fennel Salad Wrap

8 rice paper (22 cm or larger)

Beet leafs (2 per wrap)

1 medium raw beet, julienned or cut into match sticks

Fresh organic fennel

1 small fennel, thinly sliced

1 orange, sliced or sectioned

1/2 cup pumpkin seeds

cilantro

Directions 

To make the salad wraps, prepare all the ingredients before assembling.

1. Peel the skin from the beet and cut into small matchstick pieces. Set aside.

2. Cut the fennel fronds leaving only the white bulb. Thinly slice the bulb lengthwise. Set aside.

3. Remove the rind from the orange and slice. If using a mandarin/clementine separate into sections.

4. Lightly toast the pumpkin seeds.

5. Prepare the cilantro by washing thoroughly and cutting approximately one inch of stem off.

ThinkstockPhotos-4782148746. Wash and dry the beet leaves. Cut the base of the leaf so there is a flat edge and no stem sticking out. Otherwise the stem may tear the rice paper when you assemble the wrap.

7. Prepare the cutting board for your assembly area. It should by dry.

8. Take a pie dish and fill it with hot tap water (boiling is not necessary). Place a rice paper in the dish and let it sit for approximately 30 seconds. Remove and place on your cutting board.

9. First place two beet leaves in the middle of the rice paper leaving approximately 1 inch on either end.

10. Add a small amount of the beet and fennel, 2 — 3 sprigs cilantro, 1 tbsp pumpkin seeds and few sections of orange on top. Don’t fill the wrap too full, as it will be difficult to handle and wrap.

11. Fold in the one-inch ends of the rice wrap. Then take one end of the rice wrap and gently fold over the whole salad. Continue to roll the rest of the paper so it resembles a cylinder. The rice paper will stick together to secure the wrap.

12. Repeat until you have used the salad ingredients. It gets easier with practice.

Serves: eight