Beetroot, Mint and Marinated Feta Salad

This is a lovely tangy salad filled with vibrant flavours and hitting all those wonderful texture combos. The creamy beetroot and cannellini combo would also work brilliantly as part of an antipasti board with some good bread. I have separated out the different elements of the salad for simplicity.

Roast beetroot & cannellini dip

5 whole beetroot

2 garlic cloves

Seasoning

2 tbsp oil

1/2 bunch of mint, leaves picked

5 tbsp apple cider vinegar

1 400g tin of cannellini beans in water, drained

2 tbsp natural yoghurt

1 tbsp maple syrup

Salt and pepper

Optional chilli flakes

Pickled beetroot

3 small beetroot, peeled and cut into cubes

150ml apple cider vinegar

1/2 tbsp salt

40g caster sugar

Seasonings of your choice: I usually go with bay leaves, mustard seeds and fennel seeds

Marinated feta

200g feta

Juice of 1 lemon

4 tbsp olive oil

Salt and pepper

1 clove of garlic, minced

1 tbsp dried oregano

2 tbsp fresh mint leaves, chopped

Remaining ingredients

50g mixed seeds

Handful of walnuts

2 large carrots

100g leaves of your choice, watercress, rocket, pea shoots would all be lovely, or a combination of the three, washed

Additional mint leaves

1. Start by roasting 5 beetroot, turn your oven to 180C and place two sheets of foil on a baking tray. Top and tail the beetroot but don’t peel them, place in the centre of the foil along with the whole garlic cloves in their skins, drizzle with oil and season and then wrap it all up into a sealed parcel. Bake in the oven for around 45 mins, depending on the size of the beets. Once cooked, remove them from the foil and allow to cool slightly before simple sliding their skins off with your hands, you may want to use gloves for this.

2. Whilst these beetroot are roasting prepare the pickle for the remaining beetroot: Combine the salt, sugar, seasonings, vinegar and 100ml water in a small pan and bring to the boil. Reduce to a simmer for a few minutes until the sugar has dissolved. Take off the heat and allow to cool for a couple of minutes, then add the cubed beetroot.

3. To marinate the feta, cut it into cubes, similar sizes to the pickled beetroot and pop into a medium bowl. Add the olive oil, lemon juice, seasoning, garlic and herbs and give everything a good mix. Set aside with the pickled beets until you are ready to assemble.

4. For the creamy beetroot base of this salad, put the cannellini beans, roasted beets, mint, vinegar, maple syrup and yoghurt in a food processor and blitz until you have a nice consistency, I like it pretty smooth but how far you take it is up to you. Taste and add seasoning ( and chilli flakes, if you like) and decant it onto a platter, spreading it out ready to be loaded with the remaining ingredients.

5. In a small frying pan, toast the walnuts and seeds lightly to wake the oils. Prep the carrots by peeling them and either using a mandolin to julienne them or using your peeler to shave ribbons. Drain the pickled beetroot.

6. To assemble the salad, arrange the leaves on the creamy beetroot, followed by the mint, carrot, beetroot and feta, along with the remaining marinade. Finish with the crunchy seeds and walnuts.