Roasted Beetroot Salad with Goat’s Curd & Savoury Granola

Creamy goat's curd, a mustardy sherry vinegar dressing and crunchy savoury granola take this salad to new levels of deliciousness

20 minutes, plus cooling time prep, 1 hour, 20 minutes cook

Serves 4-6

Ingredients

1kg beetroot (heritage or normal), ideally with leaves still attached

About 180ml olive or rapeseed oil

Bay leaves (1 per beetroot)

30g thyme

About 3 tablespoons sherry vinegar

1 teaspoon Dijon mustard

2 teaspoons balsamic vinegar

1 red and 1 yellow chicory

250g goat’s curd (or chevre or other crumbly goat’s cheese, or ricotta)

Sea salt (preferably Maldon) and black pepper

FOR THE GRANOLA

160g jumbo oats

50g cashew nuts, roughly chopped

handful of pumpkin seeds

1 tablespoon fennel seeds

1 teaspoon black onion (or nigella) seeds

1 tablespoon honey

1 tablespoon maple syrup

1 tablespoon olive oil

1 or 2 egg whites

Method

Start by removing the beetroot leaves (keep them for use in the salad). You don’t need to peel them yet, but make sure the beetroots are all roughly the same size so they will cook in the same amount of time.

Then wrap them individually in tin foil, with a splash of olive oil, bay leaf, thyme and a pinch of sea salt in each parcel, and roast at 200ºC (or 180ºC in a fan oven) for an hour or until tender.

Remove from the oven and rest in the foil for 25 minutes.

Once cool, you can peel the beetroot and cut it into wedges. Place in a bowl, and drizzle with the juices from the tin foil plus olive oil and a splash of sherry vinegar. Cover with clingfilm and set aside briefly in the fridge or a cool area.

Meanwhile, for the dressing, take 5 tablespoons olive oil, 2 tablespoons sherry vinegar, the Dijon mustard, balsamic vinegar, and some salt and black pepper, and whisk in a bowl. You will use this to dress your beet tops and bitter leaves.

To make the granola, heat the oven to about 200ºC (or 180ºC for a fan oven). Mix all the ingredients in a large bowl, stirring well to make sure that the oats, nuts and seeds are thoroughly coated.

Spread out on a large baking sheet and bake for 15–20 minutes, shaking halfway to ensure they don’t stick. Try to keep them in little clusters as this makes for a nice texture and crunch.

Allow to cool completely before serving.

To serve: dress the chicory and beet tops with the dressing you made earlier and top with the goat’s curd and granola. Serve with the beetroot wedges, finished with a little more olive oil.