Middle-eastern style carrot and beetroot salad with cumin and feta

Serves 4 You will need: 3 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil 2 fresh beetroot, scrubbed clean, or peeled if very large 4 carrots, scrubbed clean, or peeled if very large Salt and freshly ground black pepper 1 teaspoon cumin seeds 1 tablespoon extra-virgin olive oil 1 tablespoon pomegranate molasses 3 spring onions, trimmed and sliced thinly at an angle 70g feta or feta-style cheese 6 radishes, cut into small wedges

optional A small handful of flat parsley leaves

1 Preheat the oven to 220°C, 425°F, Gas 7. Place the 3 tablespoons of olive oil in a mixing bowl. Cut the beetroot and the carrots into chunks or wedges, roughly 2-3cm in diameter, but keep in mind you want them to cook evenly so don’t have them all different sizes. Toss the beetroot and carrot pieces in the olive oil in the bowl and season with salt and freshly ground black pepper. Then add them to the roasting tray, scraping in every bit of oil, and cook in the oven for 20-30 minutes until a bit golden and almost, but not quite, tender. 2 While the vegetables are roasting in the oven, make the dressing. Place the cumin seeds in a dry frying pan over a medium heat and cook for a minute or two, tossing regularly, until the seeds have toasted. They should be aromatic and slightly smoking. Tip the seeds out and crush them using a pestle and mortar, then place in a small mixing bowl and add in the 1 tablespoon of olive oil and the pomegranate molasses. Season with salt and freshly ground black pepper. 3 As soon as the vegetables have roasted, tip them out into a bowl and toss them in the cumin dressing. Set aside and allow to cool. 4 Arrange the roasted root vegetables with all the dressing on a serving plate or in a shallow serving bowl. Scatter the spring onions over the top, followed by the cheese, which you can coarsely crumble with your hands, the quartered radishes, if using, and, finally, the flat parsley leaves.