triedunture (![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
triedunture) wrote2009-03-16 10:28 pm
triedunture) wrote2009-03-16 10:28 pm
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Recipe: roasted beet salad
I was in a grumpy, foul sort of mood today, and I certainly believe that when someone gets that way, it's probably some sort of vitamin deficiency. So I made a salad that was a lot of things, but it certainly wasn't lacking in vitamins.
No pictures because I was too grumpy at the time of cooking to be bothered.
First of all: beets. I was scared of them at first, but I was over at a friend's house last week and he roasted them in such a delicious way that I thought I'd try it. After all, beets are just root vegetables like potatoes. You can cook them in much the same way.
I took three largish beets and chopped them up and spread them on a baking sheet to roast with some oil and salt. Looking back, I probably should have just cut off the tops and bottoms and roasted them whole; it would have made skinning them later easier.
Anyway. Onward and upward. No regrets.
I roasted them at 350 F for a little over an hour. While those are going, I fried up some onions in some oil until they were crispy. You could do this with shallots too, or if you want to be clever, you could open a can of that stuff they put on the tops of green bean casserole. Same stuff, you lazy imp.
Arrange a hearty bed of baby spinach, crumble some bleu cheese on top, and while waiting for the onions and beets to cook, whisk together equal parts olive oil, balsamic vinegar, and honey. A little pepper, and you've got a dressing. Oh, I'm sorry, have you been buying dressing in bottles at the store? You must be one of those idiots I hear so much about.
When the beets are done, their skins should peel off pretty easily. Sprinkle the salad with fried onion and nestle the beet chunks right in there.
Ahhhh, deep purple, dark brown, lush green, and tangy blue. Drizzle dressing over it and BOOYA, you just made something you'd pay $25 for at a West Village bistro.
If you can't stand beets (and really, they aren't bad at all), then you could make the same salad with poached pears instead. I've never poached a pear, but how hard can it be? Take some white wine, simmer it gently, and cook the pear in it with a lid half-on, half-off so some of the steam can escape.
See, this is what cooking's all about. You make it fucking work. And then you eat some goddamned vitamins and beta carotene or whatnot and you feel slightly less imbalanced.
Now I am less likely to shoot someone in the face. And I have beets to thank.
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(feta cheese instead of blue is also nice)
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