When I picked up checkerboard pattern for this week’s BM theme, I knew I wanted to try really simple recipes and not complicated ones. This salad was my first trial with the theme. Since it was the first time I was making it, I didn’t realize the importance of cutting the vegetables with precision. The salad was good and I still have some beet to finish off, so I might give this recipe another try to close off the gaps and give it a better look. Lets see!

My favorite salad dressing is mayo + yogurt with salt and pepper for seasoning. Its my close friend’s favorite recipe, so ended up being my favorite too :-). This time I decided to flavor it with some basil (been ‘gardening’ a bit, so lots of basil at home) and up the spice level a bit with paprika. That paired well as the mild sweetness from the veggies complimented the sour and slice spice of the dressing. Like I said, I might be trying this recipe again soon.

Check out the Blogging Marathon page to see what other bloggers have cooked up for BM #66.

Ingredients:

For the salad (serves 2 as a side)

• 1 small beetroot
• 1 medium potato
• 1/2 sweet potato
• few florets of roasted broccoli, optional
• salt

For the dressing

• 1/4 cup mayo
• 1/4 cup yogurt
• a handful of basil, chopped finely
• 1/2 teaspoon paprika/chili powder
• pepper and salt as needed

Method:

• Prepare the dressing by mixing everything together well. Refrigerate till time to serve.
• Peel and cook the root vegetables with salt separately until firm. Don’t overcook them as they wont hold their shape when cutting. The color from beets will bleed into the other two if you cook everything in the same pan, so cook them separately.
• Once the veggies are cooked and cooled completely, cut them into squares of equal size and refrigerate.
• At the time of serving, arrange half the prepared dressing on a plate. You may not end up using all the salad dressing. Arrange the veggies alternatively to form a checkerboard pattern. Enjoy!

This post goes to Kid’s Delight event, Valli’s brain child and hosted this month by Archana.