Infusing beets with wild spices makes for an aromatic dish...

Ingredients (serves 3):

- 300g beets, cut into even sized pieces (or you can just use shop bought cooked ones)

- 1 umbel of hogweed seeds minus 4 umbelules for salsa recipe (recipe here)

- 15g mugwort on stems

- 4g peeled fresh ginger

- 2 tablespoons toasted sesame seeds

- 25g sea lettuce, chopped into roughly 1cm x 2cm pieces

- 3 tablespoons ponzu dressing, from a slightly larger batch for which you need 100ml rice vinegar (or; 70ml cider vinegar plus 30ml water, 50ml soy sauce and 16ml lemon juice).

Method:

1. First make your ponzu dressing batch several hours in advance as there is an oxidation process which takes place but needs time, in order to develop the flavour of the sauce - simply combine the ingredients and leave open to the air.

2. Roast the beets at 180 degrees celsius for 90 minutes with a little oil, salt and vinegar, the mugwort stems and the hogweed seeds, all wrapped in a parcel of baking parchment - this will contain the steam from the beets, which will lift the aromatic compounds from the hogweed seeds and mugwort and carry them inside the beets.

3. Grate the ginger with the large holed side of your grater then chop it further to achieve a finely minced state - or use any other tools or method to get the same result!

4. Toast the sesame seeds in a pan until starting to brown.

5. Chop the beets into roughly 1.5cm squares, place in a bowl with the ginger, sesame seeds and sea lettuce then dress with the ponzu.