Melbourne weather has been downright weird lately. 40 degrees one day and 15 the next. Today was a gorgeous 24. Perfect for a nice hearty warm salad.

I didn’t get around to shopping properly for fruit and veg this week for some reason so supplies were a little limited but a great big sweet potato provided the requisite inspiration. The addition of an entire head of roasted garlic took a salad that could otherwise have been fairly ordinary to the sublime.

Warm Beef and Two Potato Salad
3 potatoes, peeled and cubed
1 sweet potato, peeled and cubed
250g piece beef topside
3 tablespoons olive oil
1 head of garlic
2 tablespoons butter
1 red onion, cut into wedges
1 tablespoon balsamic vinegar
1teaspoon muscovado
1 1/2 cups baby spinach
2 rosemary sprigs
2 tablespoons roughly torn basil
juice 1 lemon
200g Greek feta, crumbled

Place garlic, potato, sweet potato and beef on baking tray and spray with olive oil. Roast until meat is tender and vegetables are cooked through and lightly browned.
Meanwhile, place butter, 1 tablespoon oil, onion wedges and leaves stripped off rosemary sprigs in thermomix. Cook on soft speed at 90 degrees for 15 minutes. Add balsamic vinegar and muscovado and cook for a further 4 minutes at 90 degrees or until just starting to caramelise.
Slice cooked beef, toss with cooked vegetables, onion and spinach.
To make dressing, place remaining oil, lemon juice, basil and roasted garlic (squeezed out of skin) into a small bowl and mash together with fork until thoroughly combine. Toss gently through salad. Toss feta through and serve.