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Roast beetroot salad with liquorice, goat’s cheese and candied pearl barley

SERVES 4

This salad is inspired by a recipe that the wonderful cookery writer Diana Henry wrote on her return from my mother’s home town of Reykjavik. Liquorice is one of my mum’s favourite flavours from growing up in Iceland and this is an intriguing method of cooking it with beetroot. It adds a subtle, spicy sweetness, but you can leave it out if you prefer.

400g (14oz) even-sized raw beetroot, whole and unpeeled

2 sticks (20g/¾oz) broken liquorice root

4 handfuls of salad leaves, including some small beetroot leaves, if possible

150g (5oz) soft goat’s cheese

For the candied pearl barley

50g (2oz) pearl barley

50g (2oz) brown sugar

pinch of sea salt

For the dressing

4 tbsp extra-virgin olive oil

4 tbsp walnut oil

1 tbsp honey

2 tbsp cider vinegar

1 tbsp Dijon mustard

sea salt and freshly ground black pepper

1. Remove the leaves from the beetroot and cut off most of the stalk, leaving about 2cm (¾in) attached. Leave the tails intact. Wash under a cold tap – do not scrub, simply rub off any dirt with your fingers. You don’t want to damage the skin, otherwise the beetroot will ‘bleed’ while cooking, losing important nutrients.

2. Put the beets in a saucepan large enough to fit them all in a tight single layer, add the liquorice and just cover with water – do not add salt. Cover, place on the hob and bring to the boil, then turn the heat down and simmer for ¾–1 hour until cooked. The skin should peel easily and a knife slide into the centre.

3. Using a slotted spoon, remove the beetroot and set aside until cool enough to handle. Return the pot to the hob and allow the beetroot cooking water to bubble with the lid off until reduced to a quarter of its original volume. Discard the liquorice.

4. While the beets cook, toast the pearl barley in a pan over a medium heat, shaking frequently until it turns a light nutty brown. Remove from the pan and set aside.

5. Sprinkle the brown sugar into the dry pan, return to the heat and, without stirring, allow to dissolve. When the sugar has dissolved, return the pearl barley to the pan with a pinch of salt. Shake the pan or swirl gently to coat the pearl barley with caramel and then pour it out onto a piece of baking parchment. Set aside to cool.

6. Next, make the dressing. Mix the oils, honey, vinegar and mustard in a bowl with a pinch of salt. Set aside.

7. Preheat the oven to 200°C (400°F), Gas mark 6. When cool, peel the beets and cut into wedges. Toss in a little dressing and roast for 10 minutes.

8. Loosen the remaining dressing with 1 tablespoon of the beetroot cooking liquid. Dress the leaves, divide among four plates in a ‘nest’ in the centre of each. Alternate wedges of beetroot and blobs of cheese around the leaves. Chop the candied pearl barley and sprinkle over, drizzle with the remaining dressing and serve.