Black cherry, beetroot & lentil salad

This is probably one of my favourite salads I ever invented. I used to hate beetroot as a kid because I only ever knew it in it’s pickled form — but have no fear! This calls for boiled (or baked, if you prefer) beets.

I should also preface this by saying I make up amounts as I go along, so I’ll give approximations in the ingredients list, but if you want more or less of anything, go for it.

Ingredients:

6 little beetroots or 1 extremely large beetroot*, cooked till tender, peeled and sliced into chunks

1 to 1.5 cups beluga or brown lentils, cooked**

500g pitted and halved black cherries

500g swiss chard (or the beetroot leaves if you have them)

500g baby spinach

1.5 cups coconut milk keffir or thick greek yoghurt

juice, pulp, and zest of one lime

1 handful of chopped mint

pinch of salt

Method:

Toss the cooked lentils and beets with the cherries and greens. You might want to add a little salt if the lentils and beets need a smidge more.

Stir the mint, salt, and lime goodies into the yoghurt.

Serve the salad with the yoghurt on the side.

*if you find those vacuum sealed pre-cooked ones with no junk in them, that’s what I usually use so I don’t have to take five years to boil and peel them.

**I soak the lentils with a mixture of water and generous teaspoon of apple cider vinegar to break down the saponins before cooking. Rinse the well before transferring to a pot with plain water. Add salt after.