Blackberry, beetroot & goat’s cheese salad with poppy seed croutons

Method

• step 1

  First, cook the beetroots. If you’re using yellow and purple beetroot, cook them separately to avoid staining. Put in a large pan of cold water, bring to the boil and simmer until the beetroots feel tender in the centre when poked with a skewer – large ones will take about 40 mins, smaller ones about 20 mins. Leave in a colander in a sink until cool enough to handle, then peel off the skin plus any remaining stalky bits – rubber gloves will stop your fingers from staining!

• step 2

  For the croutons, heat oven to 200C/180C fan/gas 6. Trim the crusts off the bread and cut the bread into chunky croutons. Toss with the oil and poppy seeds to coat, plus a little salt, then spread on a baking sheet and bake for 8 mins until crispy. Leave to cool.

• step 3

  To make the dressing, lightly crush the blackberries with a fork. Whisk together the vinegar, oil, mustard powder and jam with some seasoning. Stir in the crushed blackberries, their juices, and the shallots.

• step 4

  To assemble, slice the cooked beetroots and arrange over 4 or 6 plates. In a large bowl, toss the leaves, croutons, blackberries and chives with some of the dressing, then crumble in the goat’s cheese and divide between the plates. Drizzle everything with a little more dressing, and serve.