I said yesterday that great ingredients do a lot of the hard work of being a great chef for you, and this incredible salad is the perfect example.  With basically five ingredients on the plate and minimum fuss you can create something visually spectacular and the flavours are incredible.

Warm honey candied candy stripe beetroot, roasted hazelnuts, grilled goats cheese, an organic baby salad leaves, capers and an earthy dressing made with lemon juice and finely sliced fresh turmeric.  The entire salad is made up of organic and free range ingredients and took about 25 minutes to assemble and would make any cook look like a skilled chef.  Either you love or hate goats cheese, if its flavours don’t  work for you swop it for grilled Brie or Camembert but don’t miss out on all the other great ingredients.

Candied Candy Stripe Salad with Goats Cheese
Serves 4

Ingredients

–  1 piece Buchette [A soft rinded aged goats milk cheese]  – I used the Pepe Charlot it was great
–  60gms organic baby leaf salad
–  4 candy striped beetroot
–  1 tbsp clear honey
–  2tbsp lemon juice

–  4tbsp olive oil
–  2,5 cm piece fresh tumeric, peeled and finely sliced
–  60gms roasted blanched hazelnuts
–  3 tsp capers

To start peel and boil your beet root.  The beet root should be tender but not soft.  Remove from water and slice into thick slices whislt still hot.  Add to a bowl, then add the honey and a squirt of lemon juice.  Allow the hot beet root to be coated by the honey, set aside.  Pre-heat your grill till red hot, place an oven rack on the highest level possible.  Then on a baking sheet place a silicone  matt or piece of greasproof paper.  Place 12 slices of goats cheese onto the tray, bake the cheese from cold to help it caramelise but still keep its shape.  Place in the oven under the grill for about 2-minutes or until just bubbling and lightly golden, remove and set aside.

To make the dressing, add the finely chopped tumeric the lemon juice and olive oil mix add some salt.

To assemble the salad place somesalad leaves on a plate, top them with some of the warm beet root, a few more salad leaves and then the goats cheese.  Sprinkle this with a few capers, roasted hazelnuts and a few teaspoons of the lemony dressing.  I also drizzled a little of the pink honey juices from the beetroot for a little extra sweetness.