If a salad can be called rich, this is a rich salad. Beets have a sweet, dark earthiness, especially when roasted, that gets paired here with their own spicy green tops, shredded and cooked with garlic. We crumbled in a little Gorgonzola for savor, too, giving this salad a heft and a richness that we really enjoyed.
The thing that pushed this salad over the top for us, though, was using fresh orange juice for the dressing. We simmered it with vinegar into a concentration of sweet orange that spiked up the dark beet flavors beautifully.
Grated Beet Salad with Blue Cheese
serves 4
8 small beets
Beet greens
4 cloves of garlic, minced
Olive oil
1/2 cup fresh orange juice
1/4 cup cider vinegar
2 tablespoons sugar
Olive oil
2 scallions sliced
4 ounces Gorgonzola
Preheat oven to 350F. Scrub the beets and separate them from their tops. Line a heavy baking pan with foil and put the beets inside then drizzle with olive oil. Roast for about 60 minutes or until barely tender when pierced with a fork. Let cool, then rub off the skins with a paper towel. Grate the beets with a coarse box grater and set aside.
Boil the fresh orange juice with the vinegar and sugar until reduced by half. Set aside to cool.
Wash the beet greens thoroughly to remove all sand and grit, then slice into fine ribbons. Heat a little olive oil in a heavy frying pan and cook the garlic over medium until golden and soft. Add the beet greens and saute until tender. Let cool slightly.
Toss the grated beets, greens, cooled orange juice dressing, scallions and crumbled Gorgonzola cheese. Taste and season with salt and pepper.
mm! does anyone have any experience with canned beets? i'm house-sitting and they have a really well stocked pantry that they've given me permission to raid. i know fresh is always best, but, well, it seems like a waste....
view thinkingwoman's profile
roasted fresh beets are soooo much better (roasting concentrates the flavor), and I personally didn't think I liked beets until I had them that way BUT
if you're jonesin' the beets, open that can!
view guido's profile
what I had for lunch Sunday . . .
wash beets, wrap wet in a double layer of foil and bake 45 mins
peel when cool, and slice
dress with choice of vinegar (red wine here) and walnut oil, s p
toss with pak choi or other mild microgreen or arugula or whatever (Evolutionary Organics at Greenmarket, highly recommended)
toasted walnuts (shimmy them in a hot pan)
aged feta
minced parsley
minced shallots optional
view guido's profile