Healthy Vegan - Winter Beetroot Potato Horseradish Gratin

This Winter Beetroot Potato Horseradish Gratin is perhaps something best served around Halloween when loud bold colours seem more acceptable on the dinner plate, though I must add orange is the real colour of Halloween, not Gothic blood wine colours.  

This a dish that was made from scratch, from peeling and cooking the beetroot (which were from my own garden plot) to making the sauce, the only shortcut I used was horseradish sauce from a jar.  I have seen fresh horseradish root in the city of Cardiff, but its very expensive and I would only want a tablespoon or two, not the whole root - so its from a jar, no shame in that.  

You could make this grating completely with beetroot, but I thought it might be too overpowering and alternated it with sliced potatoes.  This recipe is vegetarian, but it can easily be made vegan.

I served the Beetroot Potato Horseradish Gratin enjoyed it with Cauldron Lincolnshire sausages which I prefer to the other supermarket brands.  I find the Cauldron ones are a lot more succulent and flavoursome, many others vegan and vegetarian sausages are just shaped like a sausage and taste of nothing. 

The Beetroot Potato Horseradish Gratin was surprisingly quite nice,  I say this as I still consider myself a convert to the beetroot club, I never liked it when I was a child.  The gratin was sweet and earthy, a little punch in the mouth from the horseradish - so make sure its good horseradish and the colour is something you just have to accept and you will, if you like beetroot. 


Okay its been a long long time since I joined in with Bake of the Week. Saucy Saturdays, Simple and In Season hosted by  Feeding Boys;  Kahakai Kitchen has chosen Beetlejuice.  One of my favourite movies.  As a youngster I  loved Lydias character played by the fantastic Winona Ryders and relished in her saying 'because I too am strange and unusual'.  I watch Beetlejuice every year and not necessarily around Halloween.  There is not much in the way of food or even beetroot juice, but I took inspiration from the Beet colour that runs throughout the movie: from the welcoming door of the couples home Adam and Barbara played by Gina Davis and Alec Baldwin.  The barn where the couple crash under, to the designer Ortho outfits, from his ties to his socks even his house gown was Beet coloured.  The beet colour is splashed loud in our face when we are shown  Lydia's wedding dress and even Betlguise (pronounced Beetlejuice) own groom suited outfit is Beet and white, which brings me to my Beetroot Gratin as it perfectly matches with Betleguise outfit!.  By the way  did you know Betleguise is actually a red star, it the ninth brightest star in the night sky and second brightest in the constellation of Orion.   

Thanks to Kahakai Kitchen I am also linking this with #Burtoween for Fandom Foodies which is a nod to Tim Burton movies and I really am a fan, I went a couple of weeks back to see Miss Peregrines Home For Peculiar Children.  The Burtoween event is hosted by Witchy Kitchen. Perfect!

 Bake of the Week. Saucy Saturdays, Simple and In Season hosted by  Feeding Boys;  Meat Free Mondays and Slow Cooked Challenge hosted by Farmers Girl and Baking Queen74.