Recipe courtesy of Psychologies Magazine (September 2017)
Psychologies Nutrition Editor Eve Kalinik has written Be Good to Your Gut: The ultimate guide to gut health – with 80 delicious recipes to feed your body and mind
Unpasteurised goat’s cheese is packed with natural probiotics; it goes beautifully with the sweet taste of beetroot, which is a great source of fibre and antioxidants that support the beneficial bacteria in the gut.
Serves: 2 (with extra pesto)
Ingredients:
2 medium beetroots
50g unpasteurised soft goat’s cheese, cut into thin slices
Extra virgin olive oil, to drizzle
Herbs, to garnish
For the hemp pesto:
65g cashews, soaked for 2 hours
Handful of fresh basil leaves
25g shelled hemp seeds
50ml extra virgin olive oil
4 tblsp apple cider vinegar
1 garlic clove, peeled and chopped
Pinch of mineral-rich salt and black pepper
For the Butterbean mash:
150g cooked butterbeans
1/4 tsp garlic powder (or 1/4 clove fresh garlic)
1/2 tsp onion powder (or 1 finely chopped spring onion)
4 tblsp chopped fresh tarragon
1 tblsp fresh lemon juice
2 tblsp extra virgin olive oil
Pinch of mineral-rich salt
Step One: Wash the beetroot and place in a steamer for 45 minutes to 1 hour or until cooked through. Remove from the heat, leave to cool slightly, then peel away the skin. Slice into 1cm slices (each beetroot should make around six slices) and put to one side.
Step Two: While the beetroot is cooking, make the pesto and mash. Drain the soaked nuts and rinse with filtered water, then place all the ingredients in a food processor and pulse until blended but not too smooth. Put into a sealable glass or ceramic container. Rinse the processor.
Step Three: To make the butterbean mash, put all the ingredients in the food processor and blend until you have a mash-like texture.
Step Four: To assemble, start with a beetroot slice, add a thin slice of goat’s cheese and a generous teaspoon of pesto; stack another beetroot slice on top and repeat the process, finishing with a slice of beetroot. There you have your stack. Repeat this process to make more stacks. Serve a generous dollop of the butterbean mash alongside. Finish each stack with a drizzle of olive oil and garnish with fresh herbs.
