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Beetroot salad with lemon oil and pomegranate dressing

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Sadly I have nearly come to the end of my home-grown beetroot!  I cooked a few of my precious crop the other day and left them peeled, chopped beetroot 6x8 and ready to go in the fridge. Lunch arrived so I chucked in some other cooked veggies left over from a couple of meals, and in a tic whipped up a lovely autumn salad with lots of flavour. Salads for me need to have a great dressing and this one, combining the acidic caramel tones of pomegranate molasses with lemony olive oil was spot on.My crush on Carluccio’s lemon oil emerged recently having been given a bottle as part of a review for their Woking restaurant where I had a brilliant breakfast a few weeks ago. Even though my blog is all about independents occasionally I dabble in a chain, and there are a few good ones around such as Côte too.

beetrootsaladtrio6x9

Carluccio’s has a great food shop in each of their restaurants and sell some great products such as gluten-free spaghetti (one of the best I have ever tried). They have oils, dried mushrooms, pasta, sauces and some fresh products and patisserie. I also spied bottles of Vin Santo which served with a few Cantucci biscuits makes a wonderful effortless dessert.

The vegetables to compliment the beetroot used in this salad can be swapped and substituted depending on availability and I would make this with corn, fine green beans or baby runners too. I served this with a dollop of fat free Greek Yogurt sprinkled with sumac and a little of the lemon oil.

Salad
5 medium cooked beetroot peeled and roughly chopped
150g cooked broad beans
150g cooked tenderstem broccoli, chopped
2-3 fresh nasturtium flowers (optional)

Dressing
1 tablespoon pomegranate molasses
1 tablespoon fresh chopped chives (or other fresh herbs such as mint)
1 dessertspoon lemon olive oil
1 dessertspoon red wine vinegar
Salt and freshly ground black pepper

Place the vegetables together in a mixing bowl and (apart from the flowers). Spoon the dressing ingredients straight on the salad and mix well. Place on a serving dish and decorate with flowers if you have them. If I was to serve this in the evening I would add a few finely chopped salad onions and a clove of crushed smoked garlic.

beetrrot salad with pom dressing

Pan fried mackerel, tomatoes and fresh thyme

Cornish mackerel, pan fried tomatoes and fresh thyme

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I picked up a couple of über fresh Cornish mackerel fillets late yesterday morning from the Chelsea Fishmonger in Guildford it was too late for breakfast and too early for lunch so brunch it became.

Sadly the Chelsea Fishmonger is no longer open in Guildford but if you are in Chelsea you can visit them here.

Here’s the recipe:

Splash some olive oil in a pan and when really hot add 6-7 halved small plum or cherry tomatoes , cut side down in the pan . Fry for 5 minutes.

Cut a bunch of fresh thyme, slide the leaves off the stalks and pat them onto the mackerel fillets. Place the mackerel fillets skin side down with the tomatoes: I cooked them for 3-4 minutes, then flipped them over for a couple more minutes. While the fish are cooking bring some water to the boil and poach an egg. I used a freshly laid egg from  Joes Farm Shop at Elm Nursery in Sutton Green.

Put the tomatoes on a plate and top with a handful of rocket leaves. Place the mackerel fillets across each other over the tomatoes and drizzle with a little good olive oil, a sprinkle of smoked sea salt and a twist or two of black pepper. Top with the soft poached egg and serve immediately.

I served this with a spoonful of chilli jam to add a kick – if you don’t have any a splash of balsamic vinegar works a treat.