Ensalada de Betabel

Name: Ensalada de Betabel
Total time: 75 min
Yield: 4 servings
Cuisine: Mexican
Ingredients: Beetroot; Fat-free Greek yoghurt; Orange juice; Lime juice; Onion; Fresh coriander; Salt

Ensalada de Betabel, plated as one serving.

96 kcal a serving, against 222 for the traditional version. That is 126 kcal off, or 57%, with 7.4g of protein. Serves 4. 75 minutes.

What the traditional version is

Earthy whole beetroot boiled or roasted until perfectly tender, chopped into rough chunks and tossed in a heavy, emulsified dressing of olive oil, fresh orange juice and lime juice. Generously scattered with toasted pumpkin seeds and finely sliced raw white onion for sharpness.

What changed, and what each change costs

45g of olive oil and 50g of toasted pumpkin seeds swapped for 200g of fat-free Greek yoghurt

The oil and seeds bring hundreds of calories in pure fat. Using a thick layer of strained yoghurt provides a creamy, rich backdrop for the vegetables and drives the protein straight up without adding heavy oils.

What it costs you. You'll lose the distinct nutty crunch of the toasted seeds and the slick, rich mouthfeel of the olive oil dressing. It's the first compromise you'll notice, because the texture of the dish fundamentally shifts from a lightly dressed salad to a heavily plated vegetable dish.

What goes in it

The ingredients, without the quantities. The weights are what the figures below are computed from, and they are in the book.

Beetroot
Fat-free Greek yoghurt
Orange juice
Lime juice
Onion
Fresh coriander
Salt

How it starts

Heat your oven to 200C.
Take the beetroot out of the oven, unwrap the foil carefully to let the steam escape, and let them sit until they're cool enough to handle.
Finely slice the onion.

The rest of the method, and every weight, is in Authentic-ish Mexican.

The numbers

Per serving	Traditional	Lightened
Calories	222	96
Protein	4.7g	7.4g
Fat	13.9g	0.5g
Saturated fat	2.1g	0.1g
Carbohydrate	21.7g	16.8g
Protein per 100 kcal	2.1g	7.7g

Every figure is computed from the recipe's own weighed ingredient list against public food composition databases. The appendix in Authentic-ish Mexican prints the exact database row used for each ingredient, so any number here can be checked. How every number is computed sets out the method.

Allergens. milk.

The method is in the book

This is a vibrant, punchy plate of food that looks fantastic on the table. Call it a bright, creamy dish that stands up as a substantial starter or a light lunch rather than a traditional oil-slicked market salad and you'll be about right. You trade the roasted crunch of the pumpkin seeds for the thick, tangy dairy of the yoghurt. The sharp citrus dressing and the deep, earthy root still take centre stage, but the dish feels completely different without the heavy grease. You get a massive hit of flavour without drowning the vegetables in fat.

The quantities and the method for this dish are in Authentic-ish Mexican, along with 56 more. Buy the paperback