Charred Cauliflower, Beetroot and Goats Cheese Salad

Instructions

1. Depending on how you wish to char your cauliflower, either turn on your grill or griddle.
2. Also turn on your oven to 170° for the beetroot.
3. Strip the green outer leaves and any woody protrusions from your head of cauliflower. Remove any blemishes on the white part, rinse.
4. Place your scrubbed, topped and tailed beets in a baking pan, drizzle with extra-virgin olive oil, sprinkle with Maldon and a few twists of pepper.
5. Add your 3, lightly bashed garlic cloves and your sprig of rosemary, torn into mini-sprigs, to the baking pan/ oven dish.
6. Place in the oven.
7. With a large, sharp cooking knife slice the cauliflower head in to inch thick (2cm) "steaks". Some small, unconnected pieces of floret will fall away. I like to lightly char these separately at the end and throw them in to the salad. You should have about 4 "steaks" escalating in diameter.
8. Drizzle the cauliflower all over with good olive oil and sprinkle with Maldon.
9. Put on a tray under your pre-heated grill or on your griddle or even on a dry hot pan and leave for a good 5 minutes or so.
10. Check to see how brown it is, turn to char the other side. When blistering in several places on both sides but not burnt, remove and place in a bowl to cool. (If you combine too soon with the leaves, they will wilt and lose their colour).
11. Wash and strip down your fresh kale leaves. Remove the woody stalks, tear the leaves into roughly 2-3 inch square bits. Spin in a spinner or shake dry and add to your bowl of choice.
12. Wash and top and tail the cucumber and cut in half lengthways, and then again lengthways to make quarters when cut in cross-sections. This should yield 1-2cm-square chunks. Add the cucumber to the leaves.
13. Check on your beetroot. The skins should be crisping up beautifully meaning it is time to turn down your oven to 120°.
14. Chop your cheese into chunks,(NB: if you are doing halloumi, I would suggest adding it freshly fried just before serving the salad by quickly slicing it into 1cm strips and frying in a little oil in a frying pan. Halloumi has a tendency to go quite hard and rubbery if not eaten warm)
15. Now that the cauliflower is cool enough to handle, break it up into bite-sized pieces and add to the bowl of leaves.
16. Rip up your rinsed and dried basil and add to the bowl.
17. When your beetroots can be pierced through with the tines of a fork or a pointy knife, they are done. Remove from the oven, allow to cool and once not burning hot, peel them gently, the skins should be baggy and easy to remove. Slice them and chop in to half lenghtways so the discs of beetroot are small enough to eat without a knife.
18. Add them to the serving bowl, combine everything and drizzle with the dressing ingredients, stir and as a finishing touch add a few sprigs of herbs and a another zig zag of balsamic.