Pomegranate salsa

Hello everyone, I was part of a funny conversation in the office during the week. An email came around to a group of us who sit together, advising that one of the group is having a significant birthday this weekend and the sender thought it would be nice to have a cake. Did we all agree? Of course I didn't hesitate to vigorously agree that a cake would be a very good thing. Then came the next question: what sort of cake should we have? So the three men in the group entered into a great discussion about what sort of cake they would like. Eventually, being the service delivery kind of person I am, I interrupted them by saying "Why don't we ask the birthday boy what kind of cake he likes?" Great consternation. How on earth could we extract that information? (And the subtext was "why on earth...") So, birthday boy walked back into the office and I engaged him in a conversation about cooking, family recipes, our favourite cakes....to discover that he likes all kinds of cakes! Very easy to please. So we have settled on orange poppyseed.

This week's recipe is something that I made last weekend to go with some garlic chicken that I barbecued. The two went together beautifully, and it would also pair well with fish or roasted vegetables. I think one of the best things about it is how pretty it looks. I am unsure whether pomegranates are available at Christmas, but it would be perfect then as the dish is red and green. It's great for entertaining as it is something a little bit unusual and tastes great.

Have a fantastic week, love from Jane xx

Pomegranate salsa

Serves 4-6

What you need:

• 2 ripe tomatoes
• 1/3 cup mint leaves
• 1 tablespoon pomegranate molasses
• 1 tablespoon lemon juice
• 2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
• 1 pomegranate
• Salt

What you do:

1. Cut the tomatoes into quarters, discard the seeds and chop the flesh into small dice.
2. Roughly chop the mint leaves and add to the tomatoes with the pomegranate molasses, lemon juice and oil (taste as you go and adjust the quantities to taste).
3. To extract the seeds from the pomegranate, cut off the crown at the top. Cut the fruit into quarters. Put the quarters in a bowl of cold water, then carefully bend back the skin to open up the membrane, prising out the seeds. The membrane and skin will float to the top of the water while the seeds will sink.
4. Sprinkle the seeds into the salsa base.
5. Season to taste with salt , stir to mix and serve.