SALADE ROUGE

SERVES 10-12 / PREPARATION 15 MINUTES / COOKING 40 MINUTES

Lauraine is now food columnist at the NZ Listener, judge of Ora King Awards and Outstanding Producer Awards.

Beautifully cooked vegetables are the best part of a meal for me. This bright fresh vegetable salad with contrasting crunch and flavour adds a real hit of colour to the festive table. Prepare everything in advance then refrigerate it but bring back to room temperature before serving.

5 small red capsicums, seeded, stalks and membranes removed and cut into wedges 3 small red onions, peeled

and cut into wedges 4 medium beetroot 4 large carrots, peeled and

cut into neat diagonal slices 2 large acid-free tomatoes fresh basil leaves to garnish

FOR THE DRESSING juice of 1 orange and zest cut into thin

strips and blanched for 2 minutes 2 tablespoons sherry vinegar 1 tablespoon liquid honey

¼ cup olive oil

Preheat the oven to 180°C and roast the capsicums and onion wedges until soft (around 25 minutes) then set aside.

Boil the beetroot for 40 minutes or until tender, cool then remove the skins. Cut into chunks.

Cook the carrots in salted water with a pinch of sugar (around 10 minutes) until soft but not mushy. Keep aside.

Wash the tomatoes well and cut into neat chunks.

To make the dressing, mix everything together in a small screwtop jar.

Arrange the vegetables on a large white platter and drizzle the dressing over. Garnish with a few torn basil leaves and serve at room temperature.