Vegan Tartar with Beetroot, Tomatoes, Peas, and Carrot Lox
Do you also know this phenomenon, that you eat vegan dishes that you never liked before when they were non-vegan? For me, steak tartare is a great example of this. Raw minced meat? Urgh! A vegan minced meat based on rice cakes? Bring it on! At this point, I don't even want to go far and talk about the history or details of a tartare, so let's get straight to today's vegan version, shall we? This one, unlike our first vegan minced meat, isn't made of rice cakes but of several layers of vegetables. It's therefore not even an attempt to come close to a classic steak tartare, but rather a deconstructed layered salad.
I went all out and prepared four layers of vegetables: a juicy tomato layer with balsamic vinegar, a steamed beetroot layer with horseradish, a creamy pea layer with mint, and a slightly salty-smoky carrot lox layer. As if that weren't enough, our small salad tower is topped with vegan feta cheese, toasted nuts, and fresh cress. So you see that any flavors and consistencies are covered. Plus, this salad will be a true eye-catcher to serve as a side dish or starter.
Of course, you can reduce the individual layers and pick out just one, two, or three components. You could also swap out individual layers and get creative in your own kitchen. For example, I can imagine a fruity layer with mango or apples, a vegan tartare made of roasted eggplant, and also the mentioned vegan tartare based on rice wafers.
The layers are prepared one after the other, which is why this recipe takes longer than a simple salad. However, if you save one component, you also save time. Otherwise, you can prepare this recipe with several people. If you want to eat the tartare later, prepare the individual components beforehand and layer them just before serving. Speaking of which, layering is best done in a dessert or food ring, which not everyone has in the kitchen. Alternatively, you could try your luck by hand, but I think the easiest will be to serve the tartare in a jar in this case.
Vegan Tartar with Beetroot, Tomatoes, Peas, and Carrot Lox
Ingredients
For the carrot lox layer:
- 200 g (7 oz) carrots
- 1.5 tbsp (0.75 oz) olive oil
- 1 tsp liquid smoke
- 1 tsp rice vinegar
- 1 pinch Old Bay seasoning (optional)
- 0.5 nori sheet
- salt
For the beetroot layer:
- 250 g (8.75 oz) beetroot
- 1.5 tsp mustard
- 2 tsp horseradish cream
- 2 tbsp (1 oz) vegan plain cream cheese
- 0.5 tsp dried thyme
- lemon zest
- salt
- pepper
For the tomato layer:
- 4 large tomatoes
- 2 shallots
- 2 garlic cloves
- 2 tsp dark balsamic vinegar
- 2 tbsp (1 oz) tomato paste
- salt
- pepper
- olive oil
For the pea layer:
- 200 g (7 oz) frozen peas
- 10 g (0.33 oz) mint leaves
- 0.5 lemon (juice and zest)
- salt
- pepper
For serving:
- 50 g (1.75 oz) almonds
- 100 g (3.5 oz) vegan feta cheese
- cress
- bread
Instructions
1.For the carrot lox layer, peel the carrots, dice them finely, and then steam them until they're softer but still have a slight bite. In the meantime, whisk together olive oil, liquid smoke, rice vinegar, Old Bay seasoning, and some salt in a bowl. Tear or cut the nori sheet into small pieces and mix in. Add the steamed, still-warm carrot cubes to the bowl, mix, and let them marinate until all other components are ready.
For the beetroot layer, peel the beet, dice it finely, and also steam it until it's softer but still has a slight bite. Then place it in a food processor and coarsely chop it using the pulse function, or coarsely mash it in a bowl. Season with mustard, horseradish cream, vegan plain cream cheese, and thyme, and season with lemon zest, salt, and pepper to taste.
For the tomato layer, halve and seed the tomatoes so only the firm flesh remains. Dice the flesh finely and place it in a bowl. Peel and finely chop the shallots and garlic. Heat some olive oil in a pan and sauté the shallots and garlic until the shallots are translucent. Then add them to the tomatoes together with balsamic vinegar and tomato paste, and mix. Finally, season with salt and pepper to taste.
For the pea layer, blanch the frozen peas and then coarsely mash them or process them briefly in a food processor using the pulse function to create a coarse pea mash. Finely chop the mint leaves and add them along with lemon juice and zest, salt, and pepper, and mix.
5.For the topping, toast the almonds in a fat-free pan and then coarsely chop them.
- For serving, distribute the individual layers among four dessert rings. Sprinkle with crumbled vegan feta, the toasted almonds, and cress, and serve with bread.
