One of my favorite things about Saturday mornings, other than the occasional hangover and/or goonsquad diner breakfast, is my local farmer’s market. This past week, I found bunches of golden beets, all with bright, tall greens. The color, when cooked, looks like that of yellow-flesh plums, with the edges by the skin still a dark purple. The flavor is the same as regular red beets, and I went with smaller-sized beets, as they are tend to be sweeter and more tender than larger beets.

Replicating a dish that I’ve seen (and enjoyed) at a number of restaurants, here is a version of beet salad meant to accentuate the natural sweetness of beets as much as possible (those who know me best know I love a little something sweet).

Ingredients

  • Bunch beets, with greens intact (about 1.5 to 2 lbs. total)
  • One large orange (or two smaller ones)
  • Nuts, toasted (I used pecans, but walnuts or almonds will work)
  • Cheese, for crumbling (I used ricotta salata, as I prefer a less assertive cheese, but any goat’s milk or blue cheese is good)
  • Fresh flat-leaf parsley
  • Dijon mustard
  • White wine vinegar
  • Olive oil
  • Kosher salt and fresh black pepper

Procedure

  1. Wash. Remove beet greens and wash / dry greens thoroughly. Wash beets under running water with scrubbing device (either clean sponge or towel) and dry as well.
  2. Roast. Rub beets with olive oil and roast in a 400 degree oven for 18 – 20 minutes, or until beets are firm, but not hard, when pierced with a sharp knife.
  3. Cut / Juice. While the beets cool, filet the skin from the orange (or oranges). Over a bowl, cut the orange segemnts out from their pithy membranes (called cutting “supremes”), being careful to catch any juice in the bowl. When finished , juice the remaining orange pulp. Repeat if using smaller oranges.
  4. Prepare vinaigrette. Take reserved orange juice and add a few tablespoons of mustard, a dash of white wine vinegar (depending on how acidic you like your vinaigrette), and whisk together until smooth. Add about a tablespoon of the fresh parsley, chopped fine. Slowly add about 1/3 cup of olive oil until dressing comes together. Season to taste.
  5. Dice / Marinate. When the beets are cool enough to handle, dice them and add to the finished vinaigrette, along with the orange supremes (either intact or cut into smaller pieces). Allow to marinate in the refrigerator for at least an hour, and up to overnight.
  6.  Finish. Spoon beets and vinaigrette onto a bed of the cleaned beet greens. Add crumbed cheese and toasted nuts. Consume with voracious appetite.

Sweet and earthy, acidic and bright, bitter and salty.

– Max.