A salad like no other, this recipe brings the best of the two worlds - traditional Western root vegetables with the Eastern spice! Moreish, filling and full of exhilarating flavours, this Beetroot & Sweet Potato Salad is wonderful for the cold winter nights as well as an al-fresco summer lunch! The sticky sweetness of the homemade hoisin sauce, the warm spiced roasted vegetables and fresh crunchy salad leaves create the perfect harmony in the dish, that you will want to make again and again!
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Have a look at your spice cupboard. Are there any spices that you once bought for a particular recipe and then the rest of it stayed in the cupboard for months, neglected and purposeless? We do that sometimes, but once I realise that I have something that I hardly ever use, I start seeing it as a challenge to create new recipes. That's what happened with the Chinese five-spice. I had it for a few months and every time I opened the cupboard it kept screaming out to me: "Use me!". So I started thinking of ingredients it may go well with (besides duck, of course!) and that's how this Chinese -Spiced Beetroot and Sweet Potato Salad recipe was born.
When Seb first tasted it, his comment was: "It's unusual! In a good way!". And I agreed. One of the most rewarding things for me when I cook is coming up with a pairing that is not necessarily conventional, or at least not common. But we certainly feel that the sweet root vegetables, like sweet potato, beetroot, carrots and parsnips go very well with the Chinese five-spice. We hope you will give this salad a go! And if you do, let us know what you thought of the combination! 🙂
We often make salads as a main course. And the challenge is to find ingredients that will make the salad both delicious and filling enough! Sweet Potato is one of those ingredients and we use it extensively in our vegetarian salads. So if this Chinese Spiced Beetroot & Sweet Potato Salad is not for you, you should try our warm Sweet Potato and Kale Salad With Tahini Dressing or Beet and Grapefruit Salad! Here are some more of our other favourites:
How to Make our Spicy Beetroot & Sweet Potato Salad?
Preheat the oven to 200C Fan. Wash and cut your sweet potatoes into 1.5cm chunks (you can leave the skin on).
Place the cubed potato into a large bowl. Then drizzle with olive oil and sprinkle with a teaspoon of Chinese Five Spice. Mix to coat. Spread the potato onto a large baking parchment-lined baking tray and roast for 15 minutes.
In the meantime, mix the soy sauce, rice vinegar, caster sugar, tomato paste and ginger in a small bowl.
Cut the cooked beetroot into quarters. Sprinkle the remaining ½ teaspoon of Chinese five-spice on the beetroot and mix to coat.
Once the potatoes have been roasting for 15 minutes, add the beetroot to the same baking tray and drizzle everything with the marinade prepared earlier. Return the vegetables to the oven for another 10 minutes, or until sweet potato is cooked through.
Slice the cucumber, slice the spring onion on the diagonal and cut the avocado into small cubes (squeeze a little lemon juice over the avocado to prevent it from browning). In a large bowl, mix the salad leaves, cucumber, spring onions and avocado. Divide the salad between two bowls.
Make your hoisin sauce by mixing all the ingredients together.
Once the vegetables are cooked, scatter them on top of your salad. Serve warm with hoisin sauce drizzled all over.
Looking for an alternative sauce for roasted veggies? Try our Pomegranate Molasses Vinaigrette or Tahini Maple Dressing next time!
For other beautiful Sweet Potato recipes, have a look at some of our favourites below:
- Goats' Cheese & Sweet Potato Salad with Cranberries
- Sweet Potato Gnocchi with Creamy Garlicky Kale
- Creamy Sweet Potato, Halloumi & Leek Pie
Chinese-Spiced Beetroot & Sweet Potato Salad
Ingredients
- 350 g sweet potatoes skin on, cut into 1.5cm chunks
- 1 tablespoon olive oil
- 1 ½ teaspoon Chinese five spice
- 250 g cooked beetroot quartered
- 1 tablespoon soy sauce
- 1 teaspoon rice vinegar
- 1 teaspoon brown sugar
- 1 teaspoon tomato paste
- 1 teaspoon minced ginger
- 80 g mixed salad leaves
- 140 g cucumber sliced
- 3 spring onions sliced
- 1 avocado cubed
For Hoisin Sauce:
- 1 tablespoon soy sauce
- ½ tablespoon smooth peanut butter
- 1 teaspoon agave syrup or honey for non-vegan option
- 1 teaspoon rice vinegar
- 1 small garlic clove minced
- 1 teaspoon sesame oil
- ½ teaspoon sriracha
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 200°C Fan. Place the cubed potato into a large bowl, drizzle with olive oil and sprinkle with a teaspoon of Chinese Five Spice. Mix to coat. Spread the potato onto a large baking-parchment lined baking tray and roast for 15 minutes.
- In the meantime, mix the soy sauce, rice vinegar, caster sugar, tomato paste and ginger in a small bowl.
- Sprinkle the remaining ½ teaspoon of Chinese five spice on the quartered beetroot and mix to coat.
- Once the potatoes have been roasting for 15 minutes, add the beetroot to the same baking tray and drizzle everything with the marinade prepared earlier. Return the vegetables to the oven for another 10 minutes, or until sweet potato is cooked through.
- In a large bowl, mix the salad leaves, cucumber, spring onions and avocado. Divide the salad between two bowls.
- Make your hoisin sauce by mixing all the ingredients together.
- Once the vegetables are cooked, scatter them on top your salad and serve warm with hoisin sauce drizzled all over.
Nutrition
Jill says
Such a unique salad! I really enjoyed the flavor and combo of ingredients.
Ieva says
Thanks, Jill! 🙂
Tara says
Such an absolutely gorgeous salad! I love the use of the beetroot and all those spices. It also looks so good.
Ieva says
It's definitely an unconventional combination, but I am so glad you like it too 🙂
Michelle says
I love the freshness of the salad and the sweet from the sweet potatoes