Salad of braised beetroot, sweet potato, peas and beans

This salad started life from a tagine I would make – its depth of fl avour and complexity of spicing made it very Moorish, and more-ish. I soon realised that, like most braises, it actually tasted better eaten at room temperature the next day, and so it went from leftovers to purpose-built salad. Any chermoula would work here, and you can add or subtract whatever spices you like; what you’re aiming for is a delicious, balanced fl avour at the end.

Good

% Daily Values based on a 2,000 calorie diet

Step 1

Put the beetroot, sweet potatoes, carrots and beans in a bowl with the chermoula and mix to loosely coat the vegetables. Transfer to a tagine or large saucepan with a lid, set over high heat and add the olive oil. Leave to fry, covered, for 2 minutes.

Step 2

Pour in enough water to come halfway up the vegetables, then add the honey, lemon juice and salt. Bring to the boil, then reduce the heat to a simmer, cover and cook for 30 minutes. Add the peas and cook for another 30 minutes, then add the dates and almonds and cook for a fi nal 10 minutes.

Step 3

Remove from the heat and leave to cool to room temperature. Serve in the tagine or, if using a saucepan, transfer to a bowl and serve.

Step 4

Variations It’s easy enough to pan-fry some chicken thighs until nicely browned and then cook them through slowly with the vegetables to create a delicious meal; by the same token, you could add braised lamb or beef, or even some pieces of raw fi sh, to the vegetables for the last 15 minutes of cooking. Serve these tagines hot with couscous or rice.

Step 5

Pumpkin (squash), parsnips, artichokes, fennel or potatoes can all be added at the outset, as can radicchio or treviso – these last two should be cut in half and, after the lengthy cooking time, they will be soft, melting and slightly bitter. Yum!