Week Two: Roasted Beet Salad

Yesterday, my sister posted on my Facebook wall:

Jenna Wojcik

Sally, what's up with the latest blog entry? I don't have much to do here except read food blogs.

She caught me. Week Two and I was already behind schedule. Insert excuse about failed New Year's Resolution here. So I'm back dating. Pretend I posted this four days ago. Pretend I tackled the irreverent beet last week while I was anxiously waiting for the return of my personal hero, Leslie Knope to Thursday night television. (I knew she was going to ask Ben to be campaign manager! I just knew it!)

For anyone who watches Top Chef, you will know I am playing right into last week's episode when one chef mocked the other for wanting to include beets on a menu. "Beets?! Really? Everyone has beets on their menu." So I'm behind the food ball. Whatever. This recipe isn't particularly innovative, but it was new to me. I just came around to beets in the last year or two and I have been trying to incorporate more of them into my diet.

This recipe is borrowed and then modified from the Stonewall Kitchen Harvest Cookbook (which I highly recommend). This salad is easy to make once you get the beets roasted and peeled. And don't worry about finding gloves to keep your hands from getting the bright red beet coloring. It wears off pretty quickly.

Roasted Beet Salad with a Bright Vinaigrette

Fresh Ingredients:

8-9 smallish beets, a mix of red and golden (small means 1.5 and 2 inches in diameter)

Ginger (about a tablespoon grated)

3 scallions

Crumbled feta

Pantry Ingredients:

2 Tablespoons Red Wine Vinegar

4 Tablespoons Extra Virgin Olive Oil

Salt

Pepper

(Tin Foil- not a food item, but you need it for this recipe.)

1.) Preheat the over to 375 degrees. Trim the ugly ends off the beets. Putting two or three beets together in the center of some tin foil and wrap them up to make a tight packet. Do this for all the beets. Put the packets in a baking pan and put them in the oven. Check them in an hour for doneness by putting a knife through the center of one. If you can cut through, they're done. (If your beets are really small, you should check in on them at about 45 minutes.)

2.) Take the beets out of the oven and let them cool. When you can easily handle them, peel off the skins. (This was the hardest and most time consuming part. I used a really sharp knife and took my time.) Slice the beets into discs and lay them out on plates or your serving dish.

3.) Grate your two tablespoons of ginger. (I used a microplane.) Finely chop just the pale green parts of three scallions. (Use more or less of the scallion to taste. I'm not super into raw onion flavor so the light green parts worked best for me.) Combine the ginger, scallions, red wine, and salt and pepper (to taste) in a small bowl. Whisk in the olive oil.

4.) Dress your beets with the vinaigrette and top with just a little bit of crumbled feta. Taste for seasoning and eat up.