Blackberry, beetroot & goat’s cheese salad with poppy seed croutons

SERVES 6 as a starter, 4 as a light lunch
PREP 25 mins COOK 40 mins

If goat’s cheese isn’t your thing, a little feta would work well instead.

INGREDIENTS:

about 600g/1lb 5oz raw beetroot,
whole, leaves trimmed to a short
stalk (a mixture of colours is nice)

175g/6oz blackberries

3 handfuls salad leaves (we used
Beetroot salad mix from Waitrose)

small pack chives, snipped

200g/7oz firm goat’s cheese

FOR THE CROUTONS
2 hand-cut thick slices wholemeal bread
1 tbsp rapeseed oil
1 tbsp poppy seeds

FOR THE DRESSING
50g/2oz blackberries
3½ tbsp red wine vinegar
2 tbsp good rapeseed oil
2 tsp English mustard powder
1 tbsp blackberry jam or jelly
3 shallots, finely chopped

METHOD:
1 First, cook the beetroots. If you’re using yellow and purple beetroot, cook them separately to avoid staining. Put in a large pan of cold water, bring to the boil and simmer until the beetroots feel tender in the centre when poked with a skewer – large ones will take about 40 mins, smaller ones about 20 mins. Leave in a colander in a sink until cool enough to handle, then peel off the skin plus any remaining stalky bits – rubber gloves will stop your fingers from staining!

2 For the croutons, heat oven to 200C/180C fan/gas 6. Trim the crusts off the bread and cut the bread into chunky croutons. Toss with the oil and poppy seeds to coat, plus a little salt, then spread on a baking sheet and bake for 8 mins until crispy. Leave to cool.

3 To make the dressing, lightly crush the blackberries with a fork. Whisk together the vinegar, oil, mustard powder and jam with some seasoning. Stir in the crushed blackberries, their juices, and the shallots.

4 To assemble, slice the cooked beetroots and arrange over 4 or 6 plates. In a large bowl, toss the leaves, croutons, blackberries and chives with some of the dressing, then crumble in the goat’s cheese and divide between the plates. Drizzle everything with a little more dressing, and serve.

PER SERVING (4) : 416 kcals, protein 18g, carbs 29g, fat 24g, sat fat 10g, fibre 9g, sugar 17g, salt 1.4g