Now you’ve got your pomegranate seeds, make my favorite lazy salad, that has very short prep time.

Just throw in bowl:
1. Bought ready washed lettuce leaves.
2. Bought ready grated carrot.
3. Chopped avocado.
4. Pomegranate seeds.
5. Pine nuts ( lightly toast them in a dry saucepan first)
6. Any slightly sweet dressing, I like balsamic vinegar and honey.

How to get the seeds out of a pomegranate without staining your hands, clothes and the whole kitchen?

First cut a very thin slice off the top of the pomegranate, thin enough that you do not cut the seeds. Using a spoon, remove a little of the center core. Score 4 thin vertical lines around the pomegranate with a knife.

Place the whole fruit in a large bowl of cold water. Put your thumbs in the center and gently pull apart the sections. Peel away some of the white skin. Now continue removing the white skin and pulling part small sections until all the seeds are free. The seeds will sink to the bottom of the bowl and any white skin will float to the to of the bowl. With the sieve, remove the skin floating on top. Then pour the water and the seeds through the sieve, and there you have it.

Yes, the only people that would think of making a jam out of a beetroot. One spoon of this sends me right back to my childhood.

My Grandma’s jam was legendary, and she used to make jars and jars. I would have thick layers of it on matza for breakfast and eat it out of the jar when no one was looking. If you haven’t tasted it before I can imagine your hesitation, but it’s amazing. Cinnamon, lemon and ginger give it this fantastic sweet and spicy kick. The secret is to slow cook it until all the redness is gone, and it becomes brown and sweet.

Here’s the recipe, courtesy of Jewish cooking heroine Evelyn Rose. You need to start the preparations a day in advance. Yes, it’s time consuming. And it stains your hands. And your clothes. It’s a labor of love.

Eingemachts
2.25 kg (5 lb) uncooked beetroot (beets)
1.8 kg (4 lb/9 cups) granulated sugar
3 large lemons, peeled and segmented like an orange
175 g (6oz/1.5 cups) split almonds (traditional, but I leave them out)
3- 4 tbsp ground ginger (I add loads more, but I like it SPICY!)
2 tsp cinnamon

This makes 7 jars; I usually halve the amount, because unfortunately my kids just don’t understand this delicacy!

1. Boil the uncooked beetroot in water to cover for 1 hours, then cool and skin
2. Cut the cooked beetroot into 1 cm (3/8 inch) wide and 2.5 cm (1-2 inch) long, or use the julienne cutter on a food processor)
3. Put into a large bowl with the sugar. Mix well and leave overnight
4. Next day, put the sugar/beetroot mixture into a very large, heavy pan, together with the lemon segments
5. Bring to the boil, stirring, until the sugar has dissolved. Then leave to bubble over a low heat, stirring occasionally, for at least 3 hours, until the mixture loses the redness and the beetroot becomes translucent and starts to turn brown
6. Finally add the almonds and the ginger. Taste and add more ginger if you like
7. Bubble for another 15 minutes
8. Sterilize 7 jam jars. The easiest way to do this is to run them through the dishwasher on the highest setting
9. Fill with the jam and screw on the lids

Let me know how you got on!