Beetroot Horseradish Crème Fraiche Salad With Feta Cheese and Candied Walnuts

This classic combination makes a great lunch salad and requires little cooking preparation. It is even possible to use ready cooked beetroots, and change the nuts to include your own favourite.

Serves 4

500g beetroots

20g salt

100g crème fraiche

1 Granny Smith apple

10g horseradish sauce

200g feta cheese

80g walnut halves

30g caster sugar

100g rocket leaves

50g extra virgin olive oil

Start by cooking the beetroots. To do this place two litres of water in a large pan and add the beetroots and salt. Place on a high heat and bring to the boil. Once boiling, reduce the heat to a simmer, cover with a lid and cook gently for around 45 minutes or until a knife can be inserted into the centre easily and the beetroots are tender, before removing from the heat and allowing to cool slightly in the liquid.

While the beetroots cook, make the candied walnuts, put a medium sized pan on a medium heat and add the caster sugar along with 50ml of water, bring this to the boil and add the walnuts. Toss the walnuts in the sugar mixture to coat evenly. Continue cooking the walnuts on a medium heat, continuously stirring until the sugar starts to crystallise around the nuts. Cook until lightly golden before emptying out onto a plate to cool.

When the beetroots are cool enough to handle, rub the skins from the flesh and discard the skins, then grate the flesh of the beetroot on a course grater into a mixing bowl. Peel the apple and grate this into the beetroots. Next add the crème fraiche and horseradish sauce before seasoning with salt and pepper and mixing well. Arrange the beetroot mixture on plates and crumble over the feta cheese. Add the walnuts and rocket leaves before drizzling the olive oil over the dish.

Graeme Cheevers is head chef at Martin Wishart at Loch Lomond within Cameron House Hotel. Visit mwlochlomond.co.uk or call 01389 722504