Middle Eastern-Greek Fusion Salad - Feta, Orange, and Pomegranate

Middle Eastern-Greek Fusion Salad

Serves: 4

Ingredients

• 2 parsnips, cut into chunks

• 1 pack of sweet cured bacon

• 50g butter

• 1 tbsp hot honey

• 1 tbsp fresh thyme

• salt and black pepper, to season

• 1 orange or grapefruit, thinly sliced

• 200g steamed beetroot, sliced (I love the sweet and fiery ones that Asda or Tesco serve if you are in the UK)

• 200g pomegranate seeds

• 1 avocado, pitted and finely sliced

• 3 handfuls of organic spinach

• 200g feta cheese

For the spice mix to top

• 21 1/2 tbsp groundnut oil

• 1 chilli, sliced

• 2 cloves garlic, minced

• 1 tsp cumin seeds

• 80g walnuts, roughly chopped

For the dressing

• 2 tbsp extra virgin olive oil

• 1 tbsp high-quality balsamic vinegar

• 1 1/2 tsp dijon

• 2 tsp honey

• 1 tsp lime zest

Method

- Preheat the oven to 180 degrees c, fan. Line a tray with tin foil.

- Microwave the parsnips for 4 minutes.

- Add the parsnips to the tray, and add a chunk of butter on top. Drizzle over the hot honey, sprinkle over some thyme, and season with salt and pepper. Lay the bacon either on the same tray or a different, lined tray. Pop it in the oven for 45 minutes to 1 hour.

- 10 minutes before the parsnips and bacon are ready, toss the spinach, sliced orange, pomegranate, beetroot, avocado, and feta together in a large bowl.

- Heat a frying pan with the groundnut oil over a medium-high heat. Once hot, add the walnuts, cumin seeds, and chilli. After a couple of minutes, add in the garlic. Once the garlic is golden, remove the pan from the heat and scrape the toasted mix into the salad bowl.

- When the parsnips and bacon are cooked, remove them from the oven. Slice the bacon into strips, then add them to the bowl of salad, alongside the parsnips.

- Combine the dressing ingredients in a small bowl (or if you are lazy like me, add it directly to the bowl of salad).

Enjoy!