Mackerel & beetroot salad
With punchy horseradish sauce
25 mins
Not Too Tricky
serves 4
About the recipe
I love beetroots, in all different shapes, sizes and colours – they’re one of my absolute favourite veggies to grow. And when they’re in season, the flavour is just extraordinary – so beautifully sweet, and the leaves are incredibly tasty, too. I’m giving them the rock-star treatment here with a kiss of good oil, perfect seasoning and a swig of vinegar, then serving them alongside crispy-skinned, coriander-rubbed mackerel and flavour-packed sun-dried tomato couscous.
Ingredients
800g mixed-colour beetroots, ideally with leaves
1 x 285g jar of sun-dried tomatoes in oil
3 sprigs of fresh mint
olive oil
300g couscous
1 tablespoon coriander seeds
2 x 275-300g whole mackerel, scaled, gutted (ask your fishmonger), from sustainable sources
1 bunch of fresh thyme (20g)
extra virgin olive oil
white wine vinegar
HORSERADISH SAUCE
2 heaped teaspoons grated horseradish (fresh or jarred)
2 heaped tablespoons Greek-style yoghurt
½ a lemon
Top Tip
There’s so much more to beetroot than eating it pickled from a jar, so give this tasty summer favourite a try.
Method
- Preheat the oven to 220ºC/425°F/gas 7.
- Trim the beetroot, halving or quartering any larger ones and reserving any leaves, then cover and cook in a pan of boiling salted water for 15 minutes, or until tender.
- Tip the jar of sun-dried tomatoes (oil and all) into a blender and pick in the mint leaves, then add 2 tablespoons of the beetroot cooking water and blitz to a paste, loosening with a drizzle of olive oil, if needed. Tip back into the jar.
- Put the couscous into a large bowl with 2 heaped tablespoons of the tomato paste (save the rest for another day – it’s delicious tossed through pasta or risotto) and a pinch of sea salt, then cover with boiling water (I like to use the beetroot cooking water). Mix together well, then cover and leave to rehydrate.
- Bash the coriander seeds in a pestle and mortar with a small pinch of salt and black pepper. Drizzle the mackerel lightly with olive oil, then rub all over with the coriander powder.
- Stuff the cavities with the thyme sprigs, place in an oiled roasting tray and roast for 10 minutes, or until just cooked through and the skin is crispy.
- Mix the horseradish with the yoghurt, add a good squeeze of lemon juice and season to taste.
- When the beetroots have 1 minute to go, scatter in the beetroot leaves (removing any tough stalks first), then drain. When cool enough to handle, pinch the skins off the beetroots, removing any little roots and squeezing any excess water from the leaves. Season to taste, then toss with 1 tablespoon of extra virgin olive oil and a swig of vinegar.
- Fluff the couscous up with a fork, then tip onto a serving board, then scatter over the dressed beets and leaves.
- Baste the fish with the tray juices, then serve on top of the couscous and beets (to portion the mackerel, remove the head and run a knife down the back of each fish to remove the fillets), and serve the horseradish sauce on the side for dolloping over.
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