Beet & Plum Salad

Directions

1. make sure all of the beets are roughly the same size. cut if necessary. scrub well and place in a shallow baking dish with 1 cup water and 1/4cup red wine vinegar, cover with foil and bake aprox 1 hour at 200C/400F until tender. When they are cool slice & rough chop into various sizes - the different textures are wonderful. keep lighter color beets away from the darker red if you want to keep their color.
2. wash and roughly chop plums to the same size as your smallest pieces of beets.
3. 1 large leek sliced very thin and toasted over a low heat with a knob of ghee until tender. Then add in 1 clove crushed garlic and 1 tsp grated fresh ginger and cook another few minutes until fragrant.
4. For the dressing, whisk together in a bowl the juice of 1 lemon, 1 lime 1 tbsp honey 1 tbsp chopped fresh dill a pinch of sea salt and a grind or two of black pepper. Then whisk in the cooked leeks & ginger. discard the garlic clove.
5. saute a few shallots in ghee over a very low heat until lightly browned and crisp. transfer to a paper towel to drain and cool. should make some leftovers which will keep in an airtight container for a few days.
6. Mix chopped beets & plums through half the dressing (reserve some to drizzle over the top), stir through until everything is well coated. Add more if desired
7. Plate the beets along with any golden beets, if using, and half of the ricotta per plate- drizzle everything with some of the remaining dressing and sprinkle with a generous handful of crispy shallots and a few grinds of black pepper