Beetroot and Apple Salad with Caramelised Oats & Almonds. Lemon and Fennel dressing.

The beetroot, dressing and oat & almond crumble can all be made ahead of time for this salad. If cooking for more than 2, simply double or triple the recipe.

Serves 2 Vegetarian- can be made vegan.

· 8-10 baby beetroot, or 2 large beetroot

· 1 apple (a sweet eating apple, rather than a tart apple)

· 1 bag of salad leaves from Platt Fields Market Garden

· 50g chopped or sliced almonds

· 40g oats (rolled oats are best)

· 50g of butter, margarine or vegan butter

· 50g of honey or maple syrup

· 1 lemon, zested and juiced

· Olive oil or cold-pressed rapeseed oil

· Fennel seeds

· Salt

· Pepper

For the caramelised oats and almonds

-Almond slices or pieces can be used, or use chopped whole almonds (if they have a skin, boil first and peel of the skin).

-Have a baking tray lined with greaseproof paper ready.

-To a decent saucepan, add 50g of honey and 50g of butter or margarine. Turn on the heat to melt the fat. Once it’s melted, add 40g oats and the almonds. Add a pinch of salt and the lemon zest.

-Cook on a medium heat for 3-5 minutes, stirring constantly. It is ready when the oats and almonds have browned and caramelised and the mixture is sticky.

-Remove from the pan and spread out on to the baking tray. Leave to cool.

For the beetroot

-Wash the beetroot well.

-Add to a saucepan and cover with cold water and add a pinch of salt.

-Bring to the boil and simmer- about 15-20minutes for baby beetroot and 30-40minutes for larger ones. Test with a knife to make sure they are soft all the way to the middle.

-When they are soft, drain and leave to cool. When they are cool enough to handle, top and tail the beetroot and peel (with a peeler as usual)

-Cut into bitesize pieces.

The beetroot can be kept raw for this salad, just peel and grate instead.

For the dressing:

-Grind 1 tsp of fennel seeds in a spice grinder or pestle and mortar.

-Weigh the juice of one lemon into a clean jar or bowl. Add an equal weight of oil. Olive oil is good but can be overpowering for this salad, a cold-pressed rapeseed oil (available at PFMG) would be ideal.

-Add the ground fennel seeds and salt and pepper. Either shake in a jar or whisk in the bowl to emulsify the dressing.

-Taste for salt and pepper- add more fennel seeds if you like.

For the salad:

-Wash and dry the leaves.

-Cut the apple into matchsticks, thin slices or grate it.

-Add the leaves, apple and beetroot to a bowl. Mix in the dressing. Taste for seasoning. Crumble in the caramelised oats & almonds and serve.