Beetroot, Apple and Goat's Cheese Salad

Serves 4

Preparation: About 30 mins, or an hour if you cook the beetroot

I saw this recipe in the Saturday Daily Mail Magazine and it tastes even better than the original photo.   There are so many variations of this type of salad, which is mainly made with raw ingredients and therefore, fresh and crunchy!.  The beetroot can be cut up very small and eaten raw, I chose to boil my beetroots - picked straight from the garden - we have a wonderful selection of heritage beetroots and these ones are pink and white!   The dressing absolutely lifts this and with a satisfyingly crunch texture, this is a really good dish and so easy to put together.

This can be eaten as an independent dish or could be served with other wonderful salad dishes if you were entertaining!

Ingredients

For the dressing:

2 teaspoons wholegrain mustard

2 teaspoons runny honey

3 tablespoons apple cider vinegar

5-6 tablespoons olive oil

For the Salad

1 banana shallot, peeled and finely sliced in rings

Salt and Freshly ground black pepper

2 good sized beetroots, cut into one inch chunks (I boiled mine, but you can cut this very small and eat raw)

2 small fennel, chopped fairly small

2-3 Pink Lady or Gala Apples, cut into small chunks

2 sticks celery, finely sliced

One pack of mixed salad leaves, washed and drained

The seeds from half a large (or all from a small)  Pomegranate, (cut in half, and cupping the half in your hand, bash the outer side with a kitchen mallet - do this over a bowl and make sure you wear an apron!!)   Alternatively, slice off the lid, cut down about five slashes through the skin where you can see the pith makes a join between the seeds and then pull apart the segments and tease the seeds into a bowl (personally, I now prefer doing it this way - less messy!)

A generous handful of walnuts, lightly roasted in the oven (about five minutes or so, keep an eye on them!!)

One pack of Feta Cheese cut into cubes or 100g of goats cheese (I would be fairly generous with this, so maybe more!)

AND THIS IS WHAT YOU DO.....

1. Pre-heat the oven to 200 Fan and roast the walnuts in a roasting dish for between five and ten minutes, do not allow to burn.
   
   
2. In a small bowl, put the dressing ingredients in together and whisk with a small whisk, and then put this into a jug for serving.
   
   
3. Halve the pomegranate, and over a large bowl, cup the cut half in the palm of your hand and whack the outer skin with a kitchen mallet, the seeds will free themselves very quickly.   Any left, can be put in a lidded container and stored in the fridge for a day or two.
   
   
4. Peel the shallot and cut into very fine slices.
   
   
5. Peel and cut the beetroot into one inch chunks if cooked.   If eaten raw, wash thoroughly, if from the garden you may not need to peel them, cut them up into small chunks.
   
   
6. Chop the fennel and celery and put to one side.
   
   
7. Cut the apple into small chunks, add to the fennel and celery and then lightly season.   At this stage, I prefer to add the dressing as it is very light and "lifts and enhances" the taste of the veg and fruit - otherwise follow 13. below.
   
   
8. Cut the cheese into small chunks, set aside.
   
   
9. To assemble, take a large serving platter and cover with the washed and drained salad leaves.
   
   
10. Scatter the vegetables on the top of the leaves.
    
    
11. Scatter the toasted walnuts and pieces of cheese on top of the dish.
    
    
12. You can either pour the dressing over the salad, or serve separately if there are those who don't like dressing!  However, the dressing transforms the flavours quite dramatically.