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Roasted Beet Salad

Super simple, easily elegant, sinfully delicious………………….. Roasted Beet Salad.

I only remember beets two ways as a kid….from a can…….or pickled beets. I don’t think I ate either and was truly amazed when I ate them for the first time as an adult.

When I began gardening, I planted them and canned pickled beets every year. I’m kinda over the canning. It’s a wonderful thing and maybe when I retire….. someday…… I will pick it up again. It was nice to have your own fresh veggies in the winter……your own organics.

These days, I purchase beets, organic when I can and roasting is my preferred method of cooking. Roasting beets intensifies their flavor, it brings out an earthy sweetness, and makes them easy to peel.

To roast beets cut the tops off leaving about two inches of the stem. Leave the tap root……the thing that looks like a tail on…..don’t cut it off. Scrub the beet to remove any dirt and place beets on a cookie sheet lined with tin foil. Use enough foil to cover the beets. Wrap tightly. Place the beets in a 400* oven for 45-55 minutes or until fork tender.

Once the beets are roasted, remove from the oven and open the foil to allow steam to escape….be careful!

Allow the beets to cool enough to handle them, the skins will slide right off. You can then cut off the tap root. Then slice, cube, chunk……whatever you desire.

I wanted a simple recipe that let the flavor of the beets shine, so I made a simple vinaigrette and tossed the beets….I cubed mine……in the vinaigrette and allowed then to set while I toasted the walnuts.

Blue cheese with its pretty blue green marbling and tangy flavor is the perfect accompaniment to the beets and walnuts. If you are not a fan of the blue cheese goat cheese would make a great substitute.

If you are looking for a easy, beautiful, side dish look no further than Roasted Beet Salad.

Roasted Beet Salad

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Author: Marty Boyd
Yield: 4 1x

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Ingredients

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2 cloves garlic , minced
1/4 cup red wine vinegar
1/4 cup olive oil
1 teaspoon dijon mustard
5 large Roasted Beets, peeled and cubed
1⁄4 cup chopped toasted walnuts
Salt and freshly ground black pepper
Blue Cheese

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Instructions

Whisk garlic, vinegar, olive oil, dijon mustard, and salt and pepper until emulsified. Add beets and toss to coat.
To serve top beets with toasted walnuts and a wedge of blue cheese.

Beet Bake

Lets talk about beets baby, lets talk about all the good thing that can be, lets talk about beets

Beet Bake……….
Beets are a highly nutritious, low calorie and “cardiovascular health” friendly root vegetable. Certain unique pigment antioxidants in the root, as well as in its top-greens, have been found to offer protection against coronary artery disease and stroke, lower cholesterol levels within the body, and have anti-aging effects.

Plus they are “forking” excellent.

Continue reading “Beet Bake”

Beet, Cucumber, Sweet Onion Salad with Dijon-Honey Dressing

Beet, Cucumber, Sweet Onion Salad with Dijon-Honey Dressing

When I first started to expand my culinary skills, the internet was not readily available……..truly shows my age…………but, cable TV and the start of the Food Network ,along with food magazines got my creative cook on.

Now, I love magazines and love to cook……match made in heaven. I got subscriptions to Gourmet, Bon Appetit, and Cooking Light. Later it was Food and Wine, Fine Cooking, and the list went on. Not to mention all the little cookbooks at the checkout counter. I had stacks and stacks of them. I would pour over them trying to find just the right recipe.

The Beet Cucumber Sweet Onion recipe came from Bon Appétit, the July 2002 edition. Later, I saw it again on one of my favorite recipe search websites, Epicurious, the hours I have spent on this web site……….oh my!!!

About the beets…….as a child…….never, never never, would I eat them. As an adult, whole different story. I totally love them. And, because I love them I grow them every year in my garden. They are easy to grow……just be sure to thin them so they have room to spread out. Cooking them is a breeze…….roast them!

All you need to do is wash them, clip off the tops leaving about and inch or so, leave the tap root on , place them on a foil lined cookie sheet ,sprinkle a little water on them, cover with foil and bake in a 400* oven until tender. Let them cool slightly, and the skins peel right off. At that point you can use them in the Beet, Cucumber, Sweet Onion Salad with Dijon Honey Dressing or your favorite beet recipe. You can also freeze them. They freeze beautifully.

The hardest part of this recipe is roasting the beets, which isn’t hard at all. The rest is easy peasy………just slice and arrange. Whisk together the dressing and you are all set. This can be done in advance and is easy to take with you…….it’s still summer picnic and family reunion time. Who doesn’t want an easy take along……that bonus……. is really pretty………….Beet, Cucumber, Sweet Onion Salad with Dijon Honey Dressing!