The gardening guru and vegetable expert, Sarah Raven, first served me this salad and I’ve made it dozens of times since. It’s a classic combination of contrasting textures and flavours: sweet and crunchy from the beetroot; hot and leafy from the rocket; salty and crumbly from the feta. And it can all be put together in a matter of minutes.
Ingredients
500g beetroot, preferably baby ones that you can keep whole, otherwise cut them into 3cm chunks
a couple of handfuls of rocket leaves
125g feta cheese
2 tablespoons best olive oil
lemon juice
freshly ground black pepper
Method
Wash and peel the beetroot. Simmer gently, or steam, for 7–10 minutes, until tender but still a little crunchy. Leave to cool.
Put the rocket leaves in a salad bowl with the beetroot, then crumble the feta cheese on top. Dress with the olive oil, a good squeeze of lemon juice and a few twists of black pepper. Toss well together and serve.
Serves 4 as a starter
Visit the River Cottage website for more recipes from Hugh.
