BEETROOT PILAF

“My children love the riffs I do on pilaf, which I serve with a dollop of yogurt, a sprinkle of toasted seeds and lemons to squeeze. This beetroot pilaf packs a punch on the vegetable front and has my children calling for ‘more pink rice!’ ” Cooking time: 45 minutes Serves four

INGREDIENTS

250g white basmati rice 2 tbsp olive oil 1 large onion, finely diced 3 fat cloves of garlic, finely sliced 2 cinnamon sticks ½ tsp each cumin, caraway and coriander seeds, ground and toasted 2 tsp salt 500g raw beetroot, grated

To serve

Large handful of mixed sunflower and pumpkin seeds Clove of garlic, minced 250ml plain Greek yogurt 1 tbsp of extra-virgin olive oil Sumac (optional) 1 small bunch of chopped fresh dill, mint or coriander Chilli flakes 1 lemon, cut into quarters, to squeeze at the table

Rinse the rice under cold running water. Put the olive oil into a heavy-bottomed pan (one with a tight-fitting lid) over a moderate-low heat. Add the onion and cook gently for about 10 minutes, until translucent and soft. Add the garlic and spices and cook for a further three minutes. Add two teaspoons of salt.

Add the drained rice, turn up the heat to moderate and stir to coat the grains with the oil, spices, onions and garlic. Cook for a further minute, taking care that nothing catches. Mix in the raw grated beetroot.

Pour boiling water over the beetroot and rice until the entire mix is just submerged in water. Bring to the boil, cover tightly with a lid and reduce to a gentle simmer. Give the pilaf a gentle turning over with a big spoon halfway through cooking, to distribute the beetroot through the rice again.

Lid tightly and cook until the rice is done and the liquid has gone – 15 to 20 minutes.

When the rice is cooked, put a clean tea towel under the lid, then reseal the pan and let it rest for five minutes. The tea towel will remove unwanted extra moisture and make the pilaf extra fluffy.

Meanwhile gently toast your seeds with a pinch of salt in a large dry frying pan until they turn golden brown and begin to crackle. Mix the yogurt with a pinch of salt and the garlic.

Slick the top of the yogurt with the extra-virgin olive oil and add a good pinch of sumac, if you have it. Roughly chop herbs.

To serve, spoon the rice on to a plate and add a blob of yogurt, some herbs, toasted seeds and a pinch of chilli flakes. Serve some lemon quarters alongside to squeeze. ‘The Five O’Clock Apron’, by Claire Thomson, is published by Ebury Press (£20)