GRILLED PEACH, BEETROOT & FETA SALAD

OK, I’ll admit it. I’m lazy in the kitchen. I rarely buy fresh beetroot, especially when precooked, vacuum-sealed packs are often far more readily available in my local supermarket for the same price or cheaper. So I was delighted to find that processed beets possess not only much more antioxidant activity than raw, but also more potentially heart-healthy betalains than cooking your own from scratch, according to researchers in Berlin. They tried boiling, roasting, microwaving and commercial vacuum-cooking beetroot and found across the board all methods caused its antioxidant activity to double or even triple. And microwaving or vacuum-cooking caused betalains to rise by as much as 20 per cent. Hooray for kitchen shortcuts! SERVES 4 50g walnuts 4 cooked beetroot, cut into wedges 4 peaches, halved, stoned and cut into wedges 50g feta cheese, crumbled 1 red onion, very finely sliced 50g rocket leaves 50g watercress 80g jamón ibérico 1 quantity roast chickpea croutons (see below) salt and pepper CASHEW RANCH DRESSING 100g spring onions, roughly chopped 50g honey-roasted cashew nuts 1 tbsp grated Parmesan cheese finely grated zest and juice of 1 lemon 2 tbsp garlic mayonnaise ½ tsp English mustard ½ tsp Worcestershire sauce 1 tbsp roughly chopped dill 1 tbsp roughly chopped parsley ½ tsp salt

Heat a nonstick frying pan over a medium-low heat and toast the walnuts for about 5 minutes, stirring frequently, until golden brown. Remove from the pan and set aside.

To make the cashew ranch dressing, blitz all the ingredients in a food processor until smooth. Arrange the salad ingredients on a serving plate and season with salt and pepper. Drizzle one-third of the dressing over the salad (the remainder can be stored in the fridge for up to 3 days) and serve. ROAST CHICKPEA CROUTONS Preheat the oven to 200C/gas 6. Drain and rinse 2 x 400g cans of chickpeas. Place in a large bowl with 2 tbsp olive oil, 1 tsp hot smoked paprika, 1 tsp garlic powder and ½ tsp salt. Toss together, tip on to a large baking sheet and roast for 40 minutes or until the chickpeas are crisp and golden. Serve warm or cold. I love these in salads, atop soups, as a crisp garnish to vegetable and rice dishes or even blended up to make a smoky, roasted hummus. Store in an airtight container for up to 2 weeks.