Chocolate with salt

Lately I struggle to find the time and leisure to write. I don't know if I should blame it on the sleepless nights due to my baby boy or the famous springtime lethargy.
Yes, it's springtime in Windhoek and it's nice and warm and just beautiful. It's my favourite time of the year, with very nice temperatures, it's already hot, but not too hot and there are no mosquitoes, bees, moths, cockroaches and any other crawling stuff yet.
We are also busy preparing our veggie garden. This winter we decided on throwing everything out, feeding the soil and starting from the beginning and I promised myself to learn from my mistakes made the last years and hope we will have a bigger yield this year. I would also like to invest more time in my garden and I'm really looking forward to it.
With the beginning of the spring and the temperatures rising, our appetite for salads is back. What a better way of saying goodbye to the winter than with a combination of winter salad with fresh and young beetroot.
I must honestly admit, that I wasn't sure, if beetroot is edible raw. Only when I started researching for that matter I realised, that I was drinking beetroot juice for ages without giving it a thought for once. So the obvious answer is, yes, beetroot is edible raw and very healthy.
To make the salad substantial, I added my gratinated goats cheese croutons was a match made in heaven  with the sweetness of the beetroot and the fruitiness of the pear.

Ingredients (for 2)

For the salad
100 g corn salad
2 small beetroots
1 small ripe pear
1 handful walnuts

For the croutons
2 slices toast bread
butter (to spread on)
goats cheese
honey
thyme
rosemary

For the dressing
30 ml raspberry balsamic vinegar
1 tsp mustard
1 tbsp honey
salt
pepper
45 ml olive oil

Preheat your oven top heat to 200°C. Slice your goats cheese in thick rounds and cut the toast slices in slightly bigger pieces. Layer the baking sheet with baking paper, butter the toast and place the pieces with the butter facing down on the baking paper. Put the goats cheese onto the toast, sprinkle a tad of thyme and rosemary over the cheese and pour some honey over them. Be careful not to overdo it with the honey, less is more. Put it in the oven till slightly melted and golden brown.You must really keep an eye on it, otherwise they either burn or the goats cheese melts completely away. Turn off the oven, open the door and leave the croutons inside, so they stay nice and warm.