Warm Winter Carrot & Pomegranate Salad with Kefir Dressing Recipe

Ingredients

A 400g tin of chickpeas
3 carrots
1 tbsp olive oil
Sea salt and freshly ground pepper
1 onion
1 pomegranate
100g watercress
A handful of flaked almonds
250ml kefir
A handful of rosemary
1 lemon
½ tsp ground cinnamon

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Method

1. Heat your oven to 200C/Fan 180C/Gas 6. Put a large roasting tin into the oven to heat up. Drain and rise the chickpeas. Put to one side.

2. Peel and halve or quarter your carrots lengthwise. Tumble the carrots and chickpeas into the warmed roasting tin with 1 tbsp olive oil and a good pinch of salt and pepper. Roast on the top shelf of the oven for 15 mins.

3. While the carrots and chickpeas roast, halve, peel and thinly slice your onion. Add to the roasting tin. Pop back in the oven for 15 mins, or till everything is tender and golden around the edges.

4. Halve your pomegranate. Hold one half in your hand, cut side down, over a bowl. Whack firmly with a wooden spoon to shake out the seeds, which will drop into the bowl. Pick out any stubborn seeds. Repeat with the second pomegranate half. Pick any thick stalks out of the watercress sprigs. Add to the pomegranate seeds.

5. Tip the almonds into a dry frying pan. Toast over a medium heat, shaking the pan occasionally, for 2-3 mins till the almonds are golden brown. Tip into a bowl and keep for later.

6. Make the dressing by pouring the kefir into a blender or food processor. Strip the leaves from the rosemary sprigs. Roughly chop them. Add to the kefir with some salt and pepper. Blitz until smooth. If you don't have a blender, finely chop the rosemary leaves and whisk with the kefir.

7. Finely grate the zest from the lemon and juice it. Take the roast carrots out of the oven. Add the lemon zest and half the juice to the tin with ½ tsp cinnamon. Turn to mix. Arrange the watercress salad on plates and top with the roast veg, chickpeas and almonds. Drizzle over the kefir dressing to serve.