Beetroot salad

This is a very simple salad inspired by attempting to recreate those that I'd tasted in Marrakech, it's simple, tasty and a great way of filling up on super healthy beetroot. The other salad in this picture is my tomato, mint and caper salad (recipe in an earlier post).

Ingredients (as a side for 4 people)

4 medium beetroot
Small bunch of parsley
Juice from 1/2 lemon
Extra virgin olive oil
1/2 tsp ground cumin
1/2 tsp paprika

Method

1) Scrub but don't peel the beetroot, wrap in kitchen foil and bake in an oven at 180C for around 1 hour until soft.

2) Peel the cooked beetroot and chop into rough 1cm dice, allow to cool.

3) Chop the parsley and combine with the beetroot along with all of the other ingredients (olive oil and salt to taste) reserve the paprika to sprinkle on top to make it look pretty!

This salad will keep well in the 'fridge for 24-28 hours but tastes much better at room temperature, so take it out ahead of time.

Get in touch and let me know how you get on!

Scallops and cauliflower

This dish is still a bit of a 'work in progress' but here's the latest incarnation, it looks posh but really is a doddle!...  As ever, feel free to sub in ingredients and make the recipe your own (crispy bacon works particularly well in place of the salami).

Ingredients (to feed 4)

1 medium cauliflower
1 small red onion
l00ml cider vinegar
1/2 tablespoon caster sugar
Butter
White pepper
Juice of 1/2 lemon
Veg oil
12 king scallops (with or without roe, your choice)
2 cm piece of good salami (I use 'grasmere grunters' as they're local and great!)

Method

1) Prepare a pickling liquor by dissolving the sugar and a teaspoon of salt in the cider vinegar.

2) Chop 1/3 of the cauliflower very finely and dice the onion to the same size, add to liquor and pickle for 12-24 hours before draining.

3) Chop the other half of the cauliflower and add to a saucepan with just enough salted water to barely cover it and a large knob of butter.  Boil for 15-20 minutes until completely soft and then blend with a stick blender until smooth.  Season well with white pepper and lemon juice.

4) Chop the salami and then pulse in a food processor until it forms 'crumbs'.

5) Heat a dry frying pan until smoking hot and oil the scallops before adding.  Depending on size cook for 1-2 minutes each side until well caramelised and still just translucent in the centre.  Don't overcook!

6) To serve, spoon a circle of puree onto a warm plate and then place 3 scallops around the edge and a small pile of the drained pickle in the centre.  Season the scallops and then sprinkle the salami crumbs over the top.