Seasonal local food recipe No.213 – Jamie’s crunchy raw beetroot salad with feta and pear

It has to be said I’m not a great fan of beetroot but this recipe has become a staple in our household.  It is from Jamie Oliver’s book Cook with Jamie.

Serves 4

Preparation time: 15-20 minutes
No cooking!

Ingredients
4 beetroots, peeled and cut into fine matchsticks
3 ripe pears, peeled, cored and cut into matchsticks
lemon oil dressing – the juice of half a lemon mixed with 5 tbs olive oil, seasoned and well shaken
salt and pepper
200g feta cheese
a small bunch of fresh mint, smallest leaves picked
optional: a large handful of sunflower seeds

Method
Dress the beetroot and pear matchsticks in a little of the lemon oil dressing and season with some salt and pepper.  Taste to check the flavours are balanced and lovely, and add a little more lemon juice to check the sweetness of the pears and beetroots if you need to.

Divide the salad between four plates or put it on a big platter, crumble over the creamy white feta, and sprinkle with the baby mint leaves and the sunflower seeds if using them.