Quinoa, Beetroot, Squash and Feta Hot Salad

This dish was inspired by a recipe in the April Good Food magazine. The intended recipe was for a cold salad but in March this had limited appeal, so with a few small adaptations I created a hot dish.

I started out by roasting a chopped butternut squash, then towards the end of cooking time, adding a finely chopped red onion and a couple of ready cooked beetroot. Meanwhile the dressing was getting a good whiz in the food processor. Olive oil, honey, mustard, red wine vinegar and a red chilli combined to make a sharp but sweet vinaigrette with a kick of chilli to finish. I had never cooked quinoa before, so following pack instructions I boiled the grains until soft. Chopped hazelnuts were roasted for a few minutes alongside the vegetables. At the last minute the hot ingredients were tossed together and the baby spinach added to wilt down and cook in the heat of the other vegetables. Once on the plate, crumbled feta cheese and hazelnuts were added followed by the dressing. The completed dish was served with homemade naan breads and was absolutely delicious.

The naan breads are a recent addition to my cookery repertoire. I discovered that the dough can be made the day before and stored in the fridge, allowing fresh naans to be rolled out and baked in a very hot oven in less time than you can make a slice of toast. These are made with plain flour, milk, egg and dried yeast.

Possibly the desert that brings back more childhood memories than any other, this is 'Granny's' chocolate mousse. Made with just plain chocolate and egg, it's amazingly rich and needs to be served in very small dishes.