FLOUR AND WATER

Don’t chuck it, cook it! That’s anti-waste warrior Jane Lyons’ motto; this month she shares a tasty solution for past-their-best beets

Waste-not warrior Jane Lyons fights food waste.

Last year we spent a long, hot summer living and working in Gisborne. There are many things to love about Gizzy but one of our favourites was the produce. Each week we’d have a big box of veges delivered from local business Knock Knock Organics. It would arrive on a Tuesday night full of whatever was abundant in the Knock Knock garden that week – sweet tomatoes, eggplants, carrots with big green tops, glossy green peppers – and we’d use these to make our meals for the week. The arrival of that box reminded me of the excitement I’d feel when the sequinned craft bag would appear on episodes of Barney as a child – so many possibilities. But there was one mistake I managed to make every single week. I’d let the beetroot go soft.

I don’t know why it would happen; perhaps the novelty of classic summer ingredients would seduce me over these beautiful all-rounders. Or maybe it was because I put them in the bottom of the fridge. Either way, each time the start of the week rolled around we’d be looking for ways to give a bit of love to lonely beets. Sometimes we’d thinly slice and pickle them, sometimes they’d be roasted whole and whizzed into hummus, but this salad (right) became a favourite way to turn them into something delicious. You can serve it on a plate of herb-spiked yoghurt with a drizzle of oil and a few flatbreads, tossed through cooked bulgur wheat or couscous with feta, or enjoyed as a side for lunch or dinner. A bit of crusty bread to mop up the juices is a good idea too, if you’ve got some.