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Summer is officially here, and that means it’s mojito time! But not the way you think.

Sweet minty-lime cocktail from Havana… meet your root-vegetable soul mate, the humble beetroot. Dress her up in a little lime juice, mint and a hint of fresh ginger, along with some colourful blood orange, and she’s ready to kick up her heels with the best Havana has to offer.

And perhaps we can sing you two into romantic bliss? With a little help from my friends, and Gnarls Barkley?

This is, yet again, a simple and cheap recipe, putting me out a mere $7 or so (excluding the cost of olive oil, which I already had). If you’d like to stretch it further, I had it for lunch over a bed of arugula and mache, with a few dollops of a creamy goat cheese. Perfecto!

Mo-Beet-o Salad!
Roasted beets and Blood Orange in mint-lime-fresh ginger dressing

You’ll need:
1 bunch yellow or chiogga (candy-striped) beets
Juice of 1 lime
2 sprigs mint
1 tsp grated fresh ginger
Extra virgin olive oil
1 big blood orange or navel orange
Goat cheese (optional)

1) Wash and scrub beets. Dry, cut off stalks. Wrap in an aluminium foil package, roast at 425 degrees fahrenheit (220 degrees celsius) for 45 minutes to an hour depending on how large they are, until a knife goes through them easily. Set aside to cool, and peel.

2) In a bowl, combine lime juice, grated ginger, and mint leaves (cut into ribbons). Set aside as you slice beets into wedges.

3) Whisk enough olive oil into the lime juice mixture to make a dressing to the consistency you prefer. Season with salt and pepper.

4) Cut top and bottom off blood orange. Cut off peel. Slice between white segment walls, and drop segments into bowl. Squeeze orange juice out of remaining pith and membranes over the bowl as well. Toss gently and serve! (You may also like to serve with some creamy goat cheese, over a bed of arugula!)

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aarti