Blackberries add bursts of sweetness to this colourful starter or light lunch – substitute feta for goat's cheese if you'd prefer
Ingredients
- about 600g raw beetroot, whole, leaves trimmed to a short stalk (a mixture of colours is nice)
- 175g blackberries
- 3 handfuls salad leaves (we used Beetroot salad mix from Waitrose)
- small pack chives, snipped
- 200g firm goat's cheese
For the croutons
- 2 handcut thick slices wholemeal bread
For the croutons
- 1 tbsp rapeseed oil
For the croutons
- 1 tbsp poppy seeds
For the dressing
- 50g blackberries
For the dressing
- 3 ½ tbsp red wine vinegar
For the dressing
- 2 tbsp good rapeseed oil
For the dressing
- 2 tsp English mustard powder
For the dressing
- 1 tbsp blackberry jam or jelly
For the dressing
- 3 shallots, finely chopped
Method
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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!
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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.
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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.
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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.