I lived in Beirut for 1 year to do some restaurant consultancy. It was an amazing experience, both daunting and wonderful at times, but always exhilerating.

The creativity and resilience of Beirut and the people there was brilliant. The food was also unbelievable and some of the ingredients have stuck with me, Labneh being one of them. It’s basically strained yoghurt, and is quite thick and creamy, perfect served with flatbreads, crudités and olive oil. I used here as a binding agent and base for my salad.

Method

Firstly trim the stalks and leaves down on the baby beetroot, then place the yellow in one pan and the purple in another and cover with water. Bring to the boil and simmer until tender. This should take about 15/20 minutes, then take off the heat and drain.

When they are cool, rub the skin off with your hand and try to keep the stems attached and still keep the yellow and purple separate. Then pour the vinegar, spices and sugar into a smaller saucepan and bring to the boil, turn down and simmer for 10 minutes. Then when all the sugar has dissolved, take off the heat and add the chilli and garlic. Then pour half the vinegar over the yellow beets and half over the purple beets. Then place in sealed containers and in the fridge.

Pre heat the oven the 200C, place the carrots on a baking tray, drizzle with olive oil and season. Then roast for 10 minutes until cooked and golden.