Serves 4
Ingredients:
1 large red beetroot chopped
1 large eggplant chopped
1 pepper – red or yellow
4 figs quartered
2 tablespoons walnuts roasted
3 tablespoons goat cheese chopped
2 teaspoons olive oil
Sea salt and pepper to taste
For the reduced blackberry balsamic
¾ cup ripe blackberries
½ cup balsamic vinegar
2 teaspoons honey
To prepare the blackberry balsamic vinegar:
Heat the balsamic vinegar and berries in a saucepan over medium heat, covered. Bring to the boil.
Remove cover and smash blackberries with a fork, allowing the mixture to continue to boil. Reduce the liquid by 1/3.
Add the honey and stir to incorporate.
Use a fine strainer to strain out the blackberry pulp and push on the pulp with a spoon to release as much of the juices as possible.
Pour the blackberry balsamic vinegar into a jar and put it in the refrigerator to cool.
To prepare the salad
Preheat oven to 200 degrees C.
Scrub the beetroot and chop off the greens (you can discard the beet greens or use them in your cooking). Dice the beet into 2cm cubes. Place the chopped beet on a sheet of tin foil. Fold the edges of the foil over on top of each other, creating a package of beet.
Put the beetroot package on a packing tray and roast in the oven for 50 minutes or until beets are soft when poked with a fork. Remove from the oven and set aside to cool.
Roast the diced eggplant and peppers with a little olive oil, salt and pepper for +- 20 minutes or until tender. Set aside and allow to cool.
While beets are roasting, quarter the figs and place them on a packing tray lines with baking paper. Roast them for 10 to 12 minutes, until their juices begin seeping out. Remove from oven and set aside.
When everything is nice and roasted and cooled, arrange the beets, figs, walnuts and goat cheese on a plate. Drizzle everything with 2 teaspoons of olive oil.
Drizzle desired amount of blackberry balsamic vinegar over the ingredients, saving what you don’t use for future salads.
Serve salad either warm or cold!