I had a number of different recipes that I wanted to post (creating a jumble of possibilities) but decided not to post any of them, instead, making do with this quick beetroot relish. It’s the end of summer and the time of year when I start thinking about using the surfeit of summer produce to make home-made sauces and relishes. Another summer has come and gone and once again, I’ve thought about and rejected the idea of making my own tomato passata.

I feel like if you’re going to go to the trouble to make your own passata, you need to go the whole hog and make enough for yourself and a couple of other families to last an entire year. The idea of just using a few kilograms of  tomatoes and making a a couple of litres – that would be gone in a flash – is too depressing, but this grand scale of passata making, requires quite a bit of specialist equipment: an electric or manual food mill, a huge drum to boil the bottles of passata, a big gas ring,  a heap of  bottles and a bottle capper… as well as boxes and boxes of fresh tomatoes. It’s a community or extended family enterprise and though I’d happily jump on board somebody else’s passata making bandwagon, the thought of the organising a big passata-making working bee in the heat and humidity of February leaves me feeling limp and exhausted.

In contrast, this beetroot relish requires a low level of commitment, but still gives you a nice, warm and cosy D.I.Y. feeling, like you’re sticking it, in your own small way, to the industrialised, capitalist food complex. It’s quick to make, keeps for about a month in the fridge, goes excellently with potato cakes, veggie burgers on a cheese board, as an Indian relish, or just about anything else you can think of… and it’s beetroot! So you know it’s good for you.

Note: This recipe calls for coconut oil and coconut sugar but these can replace with another oil and sugar. I used rapadura sugar for this batch, which worked really well.

Beetroot relish

Adapted from Delicious

• 2 teaspoons of mustard seeds
• 1 onion, finely chopped
• 1 tablespoon of coconut oil
• ¼ cup coconut sugar
• 500 grams of beetroot, cooked (I bake my beetroot) and coarsely grated
• 2 teaspoons of salt
• ⅓ cup balsamic vinegar
• ½ cup (125ml) maple syrup
• 1 cinnamon quill
• ½ teaspoon ground allspice

1. Heat oil, toss mustard seeds in and cook until they pop. Add onion and cook until translucent, but not colored, for about 1–2 minutes.
2. Add remaining ingredients – beetroot, maple syrup, vinegar, allspice and cinnamon and mix well. Bring to a simmer and cook for about 30–40 minutes, stirring occasionally until thickened.
3. Allow to cool and store in the fridge in a sealed jar for up to a month.