Baked beets with pomegranate, basil, orange, walnuts and feta

Ingredients:

6 med to large beets approx 600g
2 pomegranate cut in half and deseeded from pith and skin
20 basil leaves
80g toasted walnuts
200g feta cheese diced into 1cm cubes
2 tbsps olive oil
2 oranges, peeled with a knife

Method:

Clean and wash the beets, then place in a bowl and sprinkle in the olive oil, sprinkle in course sea salt and milled pepper and then wrap individually in tin foil. Place these onto a cooling wire and onto a tray and bake in the oven at 170c for approx 30 minutes till semi soft. Then to check to see if they are cooked enough, place a knife through the centre of the beetroot and if it falls off the knife its ready. Leave them to cool on the rack in the tin foil then un wrap and peel off the outer skin.  Cut them in half and then each quarter into 4 pieces. Place these all into a bowl and crush the walnuts on top of the beetroot. Add the orange segments, figs, pomegranate seeds and feta, season with milled pepper and course sea salt then add the dressing and stir well.

Dressing

Ingredients:

Juice of 3 oranges
Juice of a lemon
200ml olive oil
1 heaped tsp of lemon thyme leaves

Method:

Place the orange juice into a pan and reduce by 2/3rds on a medium heat, then place into a bowl and leave to cool. Add the lemon juice, olive oil and add the thyme leave, give a little stir and add a little milled pepper.