More beetroot...this time a salad

An easy weeknight dinner this one, which I knocked up using some of the same dressing from the pink fritters that I made the other night. It's substantial and comforting - sweet and a little spicy.

To serve three or four, peel and chop up some beetroot into half moons, and peel some baby shallots (or use onions but cut smaller). Toss with cumin seeds, olive oil, salt and pepper and roast until done in a fairly hot oven - about 25-30 mins.

While that's going on, making the dressing. See the pink fritters recipe for how. Open a couple of cans of chickpeas, drain and tip into a bowl with a handful of sultanas, a handful of toasted pumpkin seeds, some chopped parsley and the dressing.

Plate up with some nice salad leaves, adding the onions and beetroot. Top with some natural yogurt that's been slighty salted and had some more chopped parsley stirred through.

Purple fritters with spicy salad

With my beetroot this week, I was going to make some roasted root salad, with spices, fruit and nuts. But instead I got happy with my grater and made up these pinky purple fritters, which were super yum and great with just a simple salad with a citrussy-spicy dressing. Recommended for meat eaters! As an extra treat, we griddled the extra halloumi from the pack and alternated grilled halloumi and fritters in a tasty pile of loveliness. This makes enough for two.

Fritters:
4-5 beets (little ones), peeled and grated
1 small onion, chopped little
1/4 of a pack of halloumi, grated
a teaspoon or so of cumin seeds, toasted in a dry pan
a handful of finely chopped parsley (or coriander would be great)
One egg, beaten
A tablespoon of chickpea (gram) flour
Salt and pepper to season

Salad:
Some nice seasonal leaves
A handful of whatever seeds or nut you have (pumpkin, sunflower, walnuts, cashews, sesame), toasted in a dry pan
A handful of dried fruits - I used cranberries

Dressing:
Juice from a couple of clementines (or one larger orange)
Juice of one lemon
Sugar and honey, to taste
Teaspoon or so of white wine vinegar
Harissa paste, to taste (I used about a teaspoon)
Oil - whatever you fancy. I used walnut oil for extra rich nuttiness

First, make the dressing. Put the citrus juices in a pan and add the sugar and honey, then heat for a while until it starts to bubble and reduce a little to form more of a syruppy consistency. Then remove from the heat and stir in the other ingredients and season, tasting and adding extra if necessary. Set aside.

Then mix together the dry fritter ingredients in a bowl, and gradually add the egg, just enough so it binds together. Heat a large frying pan so it's really hot then add oil. Dollop in spoonfuls of the mixture to sizzle away, gently pressing them down so they form flat fritters. They'll need maybe 2-3 minutes on each side, that's all.

While they're cooking, dress and arrange the leaves on your plates, sprinkling over the nuts, seeds and fruit is using. Then stack up the fritters on top (with the sliced and griddled remaining halloumi, if using), and tuck in!