Beet & Plum Salad - beets

Method

• make sure all of the beets are roughly the same size. cut if necessary. scrub well and place in a shallow baking dish with 1 cup water and 1/4cup red wine vinegar, cover with foil and bake aprox 1 hour at 200C/400F until tender. When they are cool slice & rough chop into various sizes - the different textures are wonderful. keep lighter color beets away from the darker red if you want to keep their color.
• wash and roughly chop plums to the same size as your smallest pieces of beets.
• 1 large leek sliced very thin and toasted over a low heat with a knob of ghee until tender. Then add in 1 clove crushed garlic and 1 tsp grated fresh ginger and cook another few minutes until fragrant.
• For the dressing, whisk together in a bowl the juice of 1 lemon, 1 lime 1 tbsp honey 1 tbsp chopped fresh dill a pinch of sea salt and a grind or two of black pepper. Then whisk in the cooked leeks & ginger. discard the garlic clove.
• saute a few shallots in ghee over a very low heat until lightly browned and crisp. transfer to a paper towel to drain and cool. should make some leftovers which will keep in an airtight container for a few days.
• Mix chopped beets & plums through half the dressing (reserve some to drizzle over the top), stir through until everything is well coated. Add more if desired
• Plate the beets along with any golden beets, if using, and half of the ricotta per plate- drizzle everything with some of the remaining dressing and sprinkle with a generous handful of crispy shallots and a few grinds of black pepper