Beets are interesting because they taste like the earth. I am definitely a believer in beets being an acquired taste. I've never liked them at all. Then why did you make a beet salad you might be wondering? Because this was in my Community Supported Agriculture (CSA) share and I felt it was my duty. But who says I can't have some fun complaining about weird foods we eat that taste like the earth? Fine, I will make a confession before any further beet insults. I am a proud beet convert. The beets beat me... ha, see what I did there? But seriously, this roasted beet salad with blood orange vinaigrette is fabulous.
COMMUNITY SUPPORTED AGRICULTURE: A GREAT WAY TO SUPPORT LOCAL FARMERS
But before I get into that, I would like to welcome you to my Community Supported Agriculture Series. I bought a summer farm share at Clark Farm in Carlisle, MA. This is very exciting. Community Supported Agriculture (CSA) is all about supporting local farms by buying a share of their harvest before the growing season and receiving farm fresh produce every week for a certain period of time.
I thought it would be fun to post new recipes each week where I use my fresh, organic farm veggies in recipes that you can make too! I know there are a lot of people out there who do CSA in the summer. So this is for all of you! This week is all about my organic beets, garlic scapes and arugula from Clark Farm.
Let's have some fun with food quotes. "It's always beets," is a famous quote. Did you know that? Do you know who said it? Are you dying of curiosity now? Or at least mild curiosity? Well, good. The origin will be revealed by the end of this blog post.
A toddler that loves beets? Yes, this is a true story
But seriously, I have a friend and when her son was little, around 2-3 years old, he loved BEETS. A toddler loving beets. I know, it sounds like something from a sci-fi movie, but this is a real thing that happened. A toddler in my life loved beets. Couldn't get enough of 'em. My friend would make delicious beets that were swimming in beet juice. Guess what he loved doing? Drinking the beet juice when he finished eating the beets. Gulped it right down. It made me dry heave on a couple of occasions.
As I was writing this blog post, now years later, I wondered if he still loved beets. He's a teenager, so I texted him. It went like this. ME: Random question - when you were really little you loved beets and drinking the beet juice after you ate them. Do you still like beets??? HIM: Yes. Though they scare the hell out of me because they make you pee purple/red.
The toddler that loved beets became the teenager who still eats beets. I'm amazed by this.
Beets, from my view, have sort of a cult following. And I'm starting to understand the following. Since I have never enjoyed beets, I never incorporated them into my meal planning. However, I used to be a private chef and I was once asked to prepare a cold beet soup for a large dinner party. My employer gave me the recipe she wanted me to use. I smiled and agreed, but dreaded making it. I didn't know beets stain everything. You can't imagine the mess I made making this silly soup that tasted like the earth.
How to prepare roasted beet salad without making a mess
If you are going to cook beets you need to have a pair of gloves or your hands will be stained for days. And your cutting board. And any little splashes of beet juice will attach to your apron, your favorite shirt and so on. Then there's the matter of how best to cook the beets. You can boil, steam or roast. From what I gathered on the internet, in order to preserve and, in fact, enhance the sweetness, roasting is the best option. I opted for this since beets taste like the earth and need all the sweetness we can get out of them.
Cut the long leafy stems off, create a tin foil packet around the beets and crimp the edges. There can be no holes or cracks in the foil. We're roasting them and also steaming them through the roasting process. After the beets have cooled down, you can remove the skins (wearing gloves). I set them on the counter in the foil packet until they were cooled down enough to handle.
Try to peel them in a large aluminum bowl to avoid a mess. The skins should come off easily. Next, I put them on an aluminum sheet pan to cut them so the beet smears would rinse off easily. I let these beets no where near my regular cutting board and wore gloves the entire time. There you have it! A foolproof way to avoid beet stains!
If you're considering beet conversion I fully support that
But seriously, I was so surprised how much I enjoyed these beets. In fact, one of the next CSA pick-ups gave us an option. You could choose from carrots OR beets. And I absolutely love farm carrots. I chose the beets!! I told you - I am now a beet convert and it can happen to you too!
If you are still here and curious about the famous quote, "It's always beets," here is your reward. The quote is in a video which will tell you everything you need to know about beets. Just click here to be delighted!
If you're looking for salad ideas you can check out my Hearty Summer Salad, Steak Salad w/Pickled Red Onions & Bleu Cheese, or my Thai Lettuce Wraps w/Rotisserie Chicken.
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Roasted Beet Salad with Blood Orange Vinaigrette
- Prep Time: 40 minutes
- Cook Time: 1 hour
- Total Time: 1 hour 40 minutes
- Yield: 4-6 portions 1x
Description
Organic beets and arugula from my CSA share made for an incredible roasted beet salad with blood orange vinaigrette. So refreshing and healthy!
Ingredients
The Salad
- 5 beets
- 1 bunch or bag of arugula (more if you want)
- 2 blood oranges
- 2-3 tablespoons of crumbled goat cheese
- 1 teaspoon shallot, finely diced
- ¼ cup of toasted walnuts (see note 2)
- 1-2 tablespoons of golden raisins (or craisins)
Blood orange vinaigrette Yield: 1 cup
- ¾ cup olive oil
- ¼ cup white wine vinegar
- zest from 1 blood orange
- juice from 1 blood orange (same one you zested)
- 1 ½ teaspoons of Dijon mustard
- 1 teaspoon garlic scape, finely diced (or 1 small garlic clove)
- 1 tablespoon honey
- ¼ teaspoon salt
- ¼ teaspoon pepper
Instructions
- Wash your beets then put them in a foil packet and crimp the foil packet to enclose the beets completely. Make sure this is air tight – no cracks or holes in the foil. Also, I used heavy duty foil but if you don’t have that I would recommend using two layers of regular foil to create the packet. Cook in a preheated oven at 400 degrees for one hour.
- Make the blood orange vinaigrette. Add all vinaigrette ingredients to a bowl and whisk. If you’re using regular garlic instead of garlic scapes finely dice it or shred it on a microplane if you have one. Just watch your fingers when you get near the end! Add more salt and pepper if you think it needs it. Important to taste along the way and adjust flavors if you’d like.
- Once your beets have cooled it’s time to peel and cut them. Couple things here. When you take them out of the oven they will be very hot, so be careful opening the foil packet – steam comes out and can burn you. Stick a toothpick or knife into the beets to make sure they are cooked through. They should be tender. Let them sit out for 15-20 minutes to cool before cutting. PUT GLOVES ON. Beets like to stain things and it’s annoying. I peeled them with gloves, into an aluminum bowl, then transferred them to a sheet pan to cut them so I didn’t stain my cutting board. Cut off the beet root at tops and bottom of beets. Chop them into bite sized pieces. They were still a little warm, so I put the sheet pan in the fridge to chill them before I assembled the salad.
- Finely dice your shallot or onion.
- Peel and pull apart your blood oranges, then cut the wedges in half.
- Assemble the salad. Put beets into a bowl, add some of the blood orange vinaigrette. I added 4 teaspoons here. Toss the beats in the dressing. Now add the blood oranges and shallot (or onion) and toss gently. You can’t really add all the ingredients together and mix because the beets will stain everything and ruin the presentation of the salad. Pour this mixture onto a platter and then place the remaining ingredients onto the salad. My video shows this well. Golden raisins (or craisins work too), arugula leaves (I served the remaining greens on the side), toasted walnuts (cook on low heat in a pan for 5-7 minutes and let cool completely before placing on salad), scatter the crumbled goat cheese on the salad. Serve immediately. This is not a salad that travels well. It needs to be served immediately. Add more blood orange vinaigrette to taste. You will obviously have extra vinaigrette – use it for salads.
Notes
- As with most salads, you can modify any ingredients to your liking. Don’t want raisins? Don’t use them. Want more walnuts, toast more. Not a fan of arugula – use chopped romaine. You get the picture. 😉
- For smaller quantities of walnuts, I usually toast in a small pan. Keep heat on low and toss the nuts frequently so they don’t burn. When you can smell the nuts they are usually finished toasting. Keep your eye on them because they are easy to forget about and will burn. Let them cool completely before adding to salad.
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