Homegrown Roasted Beetroot with Runner Beans, Almonds and Chilli

Winter doesn't scare me when it comes to salads, I eat them all year round. This is a very late post as I actually concocted it up in September, before I went to India. There's something very therapeutic and rewarding about picking your own vegetables. Last year, we had masses of runner beans - I think I picked them at least 6 times. 

Ingredients (serves 3-4)

- 4 baby beetroot, chopped into quarters

- 10 runner beans, chopped

- a handful of almonds

- a sprinkle of chilli flakes (I used a grinder and ground a pinch in)

- 1 tbsp good quality olive oil

- juice of 1/4 lemon

1. Start by heating the oven to 200c. Once the oven is hot, put the chopped beetroot quarters into an oven tray and coat with vegetable oil. Cook them for 40-45 minutes, until soft and tender. (N.B. I cooked my beetroot the day before, thus giving me leeway to experiment).

2. Boil some water for the runner beans, and cook them for 3-5 minutes until tender and light green in colour.

3. Add the beans, beetroot, lemon juice, oil and chilli flakes to a bowl, and toss a few times. Finally, sprinkle over the almonds and season with salt and pepper. 

Serve this salad on it's own, with cheese and biscuits, or with a selection of other salads.

Easy Peasy Apple Tarte Tatin

I'm not sure where this recipe originated from, but I've been using it ever since I can remember. This time, I added one teaspoon of cinnamon and it definitely added something extra.

Ingredients (serves 8)

- 5 large cooking apples, peeled, cored and thinly sliced into half moon shapes

- 3 tbsp soft brown sugar

- 1 tsp cinnamon
- 50g unsalted butter, chopped into pieces
- 250g pack of puff pastry

1. Start by setting your oven to 180°c.

2. Sprinkle the brown sugar and cinnamon into the bottom of a round medium-sized flan dish. Then add the chopped butter evenly on top it. 

3. Arrange your apple pieces beautifully, working from the outside in. Remember, the tart is going to be turned upside down once it's cooked, so make the first layer look pretty.

4. Once you have covered the dish with apples, place it in the oven for 5 minutes to soften up a little.

5. Meanwhile, you can roll out the pastry onto a lightly floured surface to roughly 1cm. Not too thick and not too thin. 

6. Remove the apples out of the oven and lay the pastry on the top of the dish. Cut around the top of the dish so that the pastry fits neatly on the apples. 

7. Place the tart in the oven for 25-30 minutes, until the pastry turns golden brown.

8. At this stage, you'll probably just want to tuck in, but you must wait a few minutes before turning the tart upside down. Scrape around the edges of the dish with a knife or spatula to unstick any excess pastry. Then place a large plate (bigger than the dish) over the pastry and turn the tart back onto the plate.

This pudding is best served hot, so either eat is straight away or bang it in the microwave to warm up for a minute. Don't over do it though, or it'll go soggy. Enjoy with yoghurt, ice cream or creme fraiche.