Oven-baked beets with garlic, yoghurt and onion seeds

I find it very hard to turn the oven on for just one dish, so I find when I am baking beets for a family dinner I nearly always bake potatoes at the same time. Some grilled lamb chops or a nice chunk of mature cheddar with a green salad sounds perfect here.

Heat the oven to 200 degrees. Wash the beets very well and allow to dry. Rub each beetroot with a little oil and put into an ovenproof saucepan or casserole dish with a lid and bake in the oven until soft through with a knife. The cooking time will depend on the size and the time of year. You should start checking them after 30 minutes.

In the meantime, crush the garlic into the yoghurt and season to taste with salt and pepper.

When the beets are cool enough to handle, cut in quarters or slices and pour the sauce over the top and finish by sprinkling with the onion seeds.

If you are lucky enough to get the beets with their tops on, cut the stalks a couple of centimetres from the base. Remove the leaves from the stalks, roughly chop them and cook in a little olive oil and salt. Sprinkle them on top of the cooked beetroots.