Beet It

I've recently decided to become a crusader for beets. I know, I know, NOBODY likes beets. I used to be one of those beet haters up until a few months ago. My boyfriend's mother likes to make me (maybe she doesn't make it for me but it always manages to come my way whenever my boyfriend is over) this wonderful beet salad with apples, walnuts, shredded cilantro, and apple cider vinegar. I'm pretty sure there is other stuff in it too but that is the general gist of it. So I decided I would give beets a chance. And boy oh boy did I open a can of worms.

I noticed that on Fresh Direct (where I generally like to get all my staple groceries at a fairly decent price. If you're in the NYC area you can get Fresh Direct at www.freshdirect.com), beets were in season and on sale so I figured what the heck I'll go for it. I ordered a bunch which arrived looking much like the ones you see above. In this form the beets are HARD AS A ROCK. I had no idea how to get it from that to the soft gelatinous blood red gems I was used to. After extensive research I found the best method is either to roast or boil them. I love most things roasted so I opted for that route.

NOTE: From here on out is my experience roasting beets. I am sure there has to be an easier way out there.

Not knowing really what to do I decided it was best to start with washing off all the excess dirt and getting rid of the leaves I was sure I wouldn't be using (to be honest they looked wilty and completely unappetizing so even if there is a use for them, I was in no mood to explore that). I left about an inch of the stems on the beets after I washed them. I then rubbed them with a little bit of olive oil, threw in a little sprig of rosemary and wrapped each beet separately in aluminum foil (make sure the packet is sealed all the way to ensure good roasting). I figured that roasting beets would be like roasting most other things and the peel would slide right off. In hindsight, I really should have peeled the beets before rubbing in olive oil and roasting them because once they were roasted it was literally impossible to cleanly peel the beets (I couldn't tell where the beet started and the peel ended!). I roasted the beets (the more beets you are roasting the longer it will take) for about 70 minutes at 375 degrees F. After they were roasted, I left them to cool until they were cool enough to hold, I peeled (aka hacked away) the beets and removed the stems.

This is the end product after laboring away to peel the beets. MAJOR NOTE: DO NOT WEAR ANYTHING YOU WANT TO KEEP NICE AND DON'T WEAR WHITE! This stuff stains real bad.

At this point you can either use the beets, save the beets for later or turn them into a puree. I had three beets so I decide to eat one now in the salad that will follow, save one for later and puree the last one to use for a red velvet cake recipe I plan to make this weekend.

For this particular beet here, his fate was to become part of a delicious roasted pear and beet salad with goat cheese. I absolutely love goat cheese in a salad and I had seen a salad similar to this in a restaurant and decided to try to recreate it.

I had two Comice pears I got free from Fresh Direct as part of their peak produce campaign. So I figured now was my chance. To roast the pears I quartered and pitted them. Then in a 10" stainless steel skillet I heated 2 tablespoons of olivio (you can use any other sort of butter substitute or just regular butter, but I don't recommend olive or vegetable oil because it gives the pears an odd taste and hides the sweet pear flavor. I put the pears in flat side down and cooked them on all sides for about 2-3 minutes each. Really just wanted the Olivio to brown the pears and for the pears to get warm all the way through. One pear (4 Pieces) I put aside to use for salad another day.

For the base of the salad I used organic baby arugula from Fresh Direct (it comes in a sealed plastic container with enough to last me about 4 salads, a pretty great deal at $3.49 a package)

I tossed the arugula with a home made dressing of red wine vinegar, local honey (I bought my honey when I was home in AZ visiting my parents and since it's local the bees get pollen from the local flora and flavor the honey that way, mine happens to have a lovely orange hint to it), I add just a touch of olive oil, ground seasalt, fresh ground black pepper and a dash of lemon juice. I'm not giving measurements because its really a matter of taste and I like to make my dressing a little heavy on the vinegar size and very light on the oil. I also make a large batch and keep it to use on salads or marinades or whatever else I feel like. I highly recommend taking the extra time to make your own dressing rather than buying it from the store, its way cheaper and opens doors to a whole new world of flavors outside of Kraft and Hidden Valley's world. Drizzle about 1 -1.5 tablespoons on the arugula and toss it so all the leaves are coated.

Next slice, dice or chop the beet however you want and layer it on top of the arugula. TIP: If using canned beets, drain them of all the juice otherwise it will overpower all the other flavors, stain your dish and the entire salad and will just make it all soggy. Crumble or simply just place 1-2 tablespoons worth of good plain goat cheese over the beets. The contrast between the red, white and green really looks beautiful . Last place the (now warm) pear slices on top of the beets and cheese and enjoy! When you cut into the pear pieces, you''ll be able to get a fork full of beet, goat cheese and arugula all at once.

NOTE: If you aren't a fan of the earthy flavor/taste of things like spinach, you probably won't like the taste of beets. To make sure the beet flavor doesn't overpower or ruin the salad for you, use half a beet instead of a whole one and add more honey to the dressing or just drizzle some honey over the top once you've placed the warm pears on top. Also note, if you are trying to eat healthy and want to avoid snacking or junk food, this salad is a great choice because the beets fill you up quickly and keep you full for a long time.

Nutrition Facts:

grams: 294; calories: 333; fat: 21g; saturated fat: 10g; carbs: 22.5g; protein: 13g; fiber: 6g; sodium: 570.5mg; sugar: 20g