Beetroot & feta salad with honey, rosemary & chilli caramelised walnuts

Serves: 4 as a starter ● Prep time: 20 minutes (plus extra to make vinaigrette) ● Cooking time: 35 - 40 minutes
Sweet, earthy beetroot and salty cheese are classic bedfellows. This happy pair is taken to the next level in this recipe with a generous drizzle of wholegrain mustard vinaigrette. The tang of apple cyder vinegar and punchy mustard cut through the natural sweetness of the beetroot, and crumbled feta adds a wonderful salty tang which provides a very pleasing contrast.
method

For the salad:


For the walnuts:

  • 60 g / ½ cup walnut halves 
  • 1 tsp finely chopped rosemary
  • 1 tbsp honey
  • ½ tsp chilli flakes 
  • ½ tsp flakey sea salt


  1. Start by making your wholegrain mustard dressing, following this recipe >.
  2. Rinse the beetroots well to remove any loose dirt, then trim off the shoots and stems. Cover generously with cold water, and bring to simmer over a medium heat. Cook gently for 35-45 minutes, depending on size. Pierce one gently with a knife to check it’s cooked through, then drain and allow the steam to billow off well. While the beetroots are still warm, rub off their skin and discard.
  3. While the beetroots are simmering you have time to make the caramelised walnuts.
    • Tear a section of parchment paper or greaseproof paper and spread this on your counter next to your hob - this will catch the hot nuts later on.
    • Strip the rosemary leaves from their stalks, and finely chop.
    • Dry-toast the nuts in a small frying pan over a medium heat. Keep shuffling them around the pan; after 4-6 minutes you will smell a smokey, toasty aroma, and see some darker patches develop on the nuts.
    • Turn the heat down low and add the honey, chopped rosemary, chilli flakes and sea salt. Shimmy your frying pan around right away to coat the nuts evenly. 
    • Stir and shuffle the pan for 3-5 minutes until the nuts look glossy and crispy, and the pan looks dry.
    • Tip the nuts on the parchment paper and spread evenly to cool and crisp up.
  4. Slice your cooked and peeled beetroot into 1 cm thick rounds and crumble the feta.
  5. On your chosen serving dish layer up the sliced beetroot with crumbled feta, a drizzle of wholegrain mustard dressing and freshly stripped thyme leaves. Scatter your caramelised walnuts over the final layer, along with any last thyme leaves, feta, wholegrain mustard dressing and a twist of black pepper.


ingredients

For the salad:


For the walnuts:

  • 60 g / ½ cup walnut halves 
  • 1 tsp finely chopped rosemary
  • 1 tbsp honey
  • ½ tsp chilli flakes 
  • ½ tsp flakey sea salt


method
  1. Start by making your wholegrain mustard dressing, following this recipe >.
  2. Rinse the beetroots well to remove any loose dirt, then trim off the shoots and stems. Cover generously with cold water, and bring to simmer over a medium heat. Cook gently for 35-45 minutes, depending on size. Pierce one gently with a knife to check it’s cooked through, then drain and allow the steam to billow off well. While the beetroots are still warm, rub off their skin and discard.
  3. While the beetroots are simmering you have time to make the caramelised walnuts.
    • Tear a section of parchment paper or greaseproof paper and spread this on your counter next to your hob - this will catch the hot nuts later on.
    • Strip the rosemary leaves from their stalks, and finely chop.
    • Dry-toast the nuts in a small frying pan over a medium heat. Keep shuffling them around the pan; after 4-6 minutes you will smell a smokey, toasty aroma, and see some darker patches develop on the nuts.
    • Turn the heat down low and add the honey, chopped rosemary, chilli flakes and sea salt. Shimmy your frying pan around right away to coat the nuts evenly. 
    • Stir and shuffle the pan for 3-5 minutes until the nuts look glossy and crispy, and the pan looks dry.
    • Tip the nuts on the parchment paper and spread evenly to cool and crisp up.
  4. Slice your cooked and peeled beetroot into 1 cm thick rounds and crumble the feta.
  5. On your chosen serving dish layer up the sliced beetroot with crumbled feta, a drizzle of wholegrain mustard dressing and freshly stripped thyme leaves. Scatter your caramelised walnuts over the final layer, along with any last thyme leaves, feta, wholegrain mustard dressing and a twist of black pepper.