Beet Salad with Oranges
/Gran Fran knows her way around beets. She would make them for us on a regular basis. Her salad involves only some olive oil and vinegar. And, she also cooks her with the skin on, removing it after cooking. Her method involves roasting the beets in the oven individually wrapped in foil (Gran Fran, let me know if I'm wrong here). Skinning the hot beets made me stay away from beet cooking for a good long time. My hands not only turned red from the juice, but also were slightly burned each time I tried to de-skin one of the beets.
My sister Danielle taught me this method, which turns your fingers red immediately, but leaves you with fewer burn marks on your hands. I think I end up with more beets, too. Using a vegetable peeler allows you to remove just the brown skin and preserve more of the good stuff.
I cook the beets in what will become the dressing for the final product, too, which gives you a really flavorful dressing. And, you are able to eat these hot, if you want to, without having to waste any time peeling off the skin.
The addition of oranges and sunflower seeds to this salad make it the perfect Spring-is-Here dish. It's fruity and earthy with just a little bit of crunch.
Featured on The Fruit Guys website.
Beet Salad with Oranges
INGREDIENTS
- 3 beets, skins peeled off, greens removed, cut into eighths.
- 1 small shallot, cut into quarters
- 2 tablespoons red wine vinegar
- 2 tablespoons olive oil
- 1 orange cut into small pieces
- 1/2 teaspoon sunflower seeds
- Salt and pepper to taste
PREPARATION
- Preheat the oven to 425 degrees.
- Place the beet and shallots onto a rimmed baking sheet, or into a baking pan large enough to allow space between the pieces.
- Mix together the vinegar, oil, salt and pepper and pour the mixture over the beets, making sure to coat all sides of the beets.
- Roast the beets in the oven for 40 minutes, or until fork tender, turning the beets every ten minutes or so.
- In a large bowl, mix together the warm beets with the orange segments.
