Salads are not just for summer, and in Spanish gastronomy we are well aware of this: the mythical escarole, garlic and pomegranate salad has always conquered the autumn and Christmas tables. Without wanting to belittle the prestige or category of queen of the cold months, I come with a slightly more sophisticated winter salad from the future. It’s inspired by this recipe by J. Kenji López-Alt, although the combination of beetroot and citrus always works, especially when topped with a sweet and sour hazelnut gremolata and served on a bed of whipped tofu. Seasonal products at their best, full of flavor and with a beautiful colour. An absolutely vegan and gluten-free salad.
When you read the words “whipped tofu,” you might want to raise an eyebrow or close the article given the reputation the ingredient sadly has in our country. Before you do something you might regret: yes, you can substitute ricotta or cream cheese. But let me sell it to you first: Whipped tofu is pretty much the same thing, but creamier; as we already taught you in the tofunese recipe.
If you don’t believe me, if you find it impossible to accept that something non-dairy has the same creaminess – or more – than ricotta, you just have to try (to prove me right later). It’s incredibly smooth, and with a little spice it transforms into a rich, subtle cream that will make your salad shine. Among other things, I added nutritional yeast, a very popular vegan condiment that you can easily find in many supermarkets, with a wonderful taste between cheese and sea.
The grapefruit and orange I use in the recipe can be substituted with any sweet citrus you see looking good at the fruit store. Roasted beets are superior in flavor and texture to cooked ones, which is why I recommend preparing them this way, but if you don’t feel like turning on the oven because the lights are out, you can use the cooked ones from the supermarket. In this case, don’t roast the garlic for the whipped tofu either, so you can confit it in two fingers of olive oil over medium-high heat, turning from time to time, until golden on the outside and creamy on the inside.
difficulty
Don’t bet everything is lost with turnips.
ingredients
For the tofu dressing
- 400 g firm tofu
- 35ml water
- 15 grams of nutritional yeast
- 6 grams of salt
- 15 ml sesame oil
- 10 ml rice vinegar (or white vinegar).
- 3 cloves of garlic, roasted or confit
For the salad
- 3 beets (raw or cooked, approx. 500 g)
- 1 grapefruit
- 1 orange
- Half Lemon
- 50 g roasted hazelnuts
- 1 shallot
- 50 ml extra virgin olive oil
- The leaves of 3 sprigs of parsley
- 15 grams of honey
- salt and black pepper
- Chives or other fresh herbs for garnish
preparation
Wash the beets (without peeling them), brush with olive oil and season with plenty of salt and black pepper. Wrap in aluminum foil and depending on the size, bake at 200 degrees for about an hour until they can no longer resist a knife.
To roast the garlic in whipped tofu, cut off the stalk of a garlic bulb, exposing the cloves. Brush the head with olive oil and wrap in aluminum foil. Put the head next to the beets in the oven for 40 minutes.
When the beets are done, let them cool completely, peel and cut into 12 wedges each.
For the whipped tofu, dice it and place in a food processor along with the water. Process for two minutes, adding more water if needed, until desired texture, creamy and lump-free. Add nutritional yeast, salt, sesame oil, rice vinegar, and roasted or confit garlic cloves. Process another two minutes. Season to taste with salt and vinegar.
Peel the orange and grapefruit and cut each into 12 wedges, then cut each wedge in half. Pick the ugliest segments and squeeze them into a bowl until you have 15ml of juice from each fruit. In the same bowl, add the juice of half a lemon (about 15ml), the finely chopped parsley leaves, the finely chopped shallot and the honey. Crush the hazelnuts in a mortar or with a knife and add half to the vinaigrette bowl. Beat the vinaigrette with a whisk and gradually add the extra virgin olive oil and emulsify. Season to taste and season with salt and freshly ground black pepper.
Place the grapefruit and orange chunks in a bowl and toss with half of the vinaigrette. Add the beets to the bowl with the remaining vinaigrette and mix well.
Serving: Form a bed with two-thirds of the beaten tofu. Place the mixed beetroot, grapefruit, and orange wedges in the center. Spoon the rest of the whipped tofu onto the wedges. Finish with chopped chives and the remaining toasted hazelnuts.
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