This is a variation of my roasted beetroot, walnut and feta salad. Both feta and stilton work really well with the roasted beetroot and walnuts.
I roast the beetroot as it really intensifies the flavour, but if you want to save on time, then you can always use fresh pre-cooked beetroot (available in most supermarkets). It's then a really quick starter or lunch, as it's just a matter of throwing things together on a plate!
The honey and mustard dressing is a perfect contrast to the sharpness of the stilton. I prefer to use rapeseed oil in my dressings, as it gives such a beautiful golden colour, but olive oil will also work well.
I love this salad, especially in winter, and it's perfect at Christmas too.
For the salad
500g fresh beetroot
Olive oil
¼ cucumber
120g stilton (for 2 people)
Handful of walnut pieces or halves
Mixed salad leaves
For the honey and mustard dressing
1 tablespoon of runny honey
½ tablespoon of Dijon mustard
½ tablespoon of wholegrain mustard
2 tablespoons of cider vinegar (or 1 of cider and 1 of balsamic)
6 tablespoons of rapeseed (or light olive) oil
Seasoning
- Pre-heat the oven to 190c.
- Top and tail the beetroots, leaving a little of the stalk intact and then cut any large beetroot in half.
- Place each beetroot (or half beetroot) in a piece of foil and drizzle with a little olive oil. Wrap the beetroot in the foil and place in the hot oven.
- Cook the beetroot for 1 - 1½ hours, until tender. To test if the beetroot is ready, remove from the oven and check how soft the beetroot are by inserting a small, sharp knife. If it slides in easily, then the beetroot is cooked.
- Once the beetroot is ready, remove from the oven, unwrap the foil and leave to cool.
- Once the beetroot has cooled down enough to touch, remove the remaining stalk and peel or rub off the skin (this is the frustrating bit!). Cut the beetroot into bite-sized chunks or slices.
- Place all the dressing ingredients into a jug and mix well to combine.
- Drain the feta.
- Cut the cucumber into small dice.
- Arrange the salad leaves on the plates, and top with the beetroot and cucumber, then crumble over the feta and a sprinkling of walnuts.
- Pour over the dressing and serve.
