Roasted Beets Make Flavorful Salads

This week what we have in season are all kinds of different squash.  We have delicata, butternut, spaghetti squash and acorn squash.  Squash will be in season throughout the rest of the fall.  

We're coming to the end of peppers.  If you have gardens of your own you've seen that the peppers are coming to an end,  and the tomatoes are coming to an end. We do have organic apples and we also have beets.

I had a customer at my store once tell me that beets were one of her favorite foods but she had no idea how to prepare them. Once I told her how easy it was, she said she's been cooking them at home ever since.  

To roast beets, you'll need a pan that can go in the oven, salt and pepper for seasoning, a little bit of water and foil or a lid.  First we add the water to the pan, we season with a little salt and freshly ground black pepper and then we're going to cover them up and that just holds all the steam in to help the roasting.  And we're going to put this in the oven at 350 degrees for about an hour.

After about an hour, your beets are finished.  You really know when you can start to smell them in your kitchen.  To be sure, you can take a knife and just insert it in.  If it's soft, they're finished.  A trick I learned at school in Paris was if you take the beets in your hands and rub them, the skins come right off. 

Once your beets are roasted and peeled, you can slice them and put them in the fridge, and then you have them available to use in anything that you might like.  One of my favorite ways to use them is in a salad.  I love them with a little bit of arugula, goat cheese and toasted walnuts.  And I make a really simple dressing with walnut oil and orange zest. 

Arugula Salad with Roasted Beets

Serves 6

• 2 large bunches of arugula, washed and dried
• 3 large beets, roasted and peeled
• 6 ounces fresh goat cheese, crumbled
• 1 cup walnuts, toasted
• 1/4 cup walnut oil or olive oil
• Juice and zest of one orange
• Sea salt and fresh ground black pepper

1.  Break the arugula into bite sized pieces and place into large salad bowl. 2.  Dice the beets and add them to the greens with the goat cheese and walnuts. 3.  In a small bowl, whisk the walnut oil with the orange juice.  Season with sea salt and pepper. 4. Add the dressing to the salad and toss.  Season with salt and pepper to taste. 5. Divide the salad between six plates and garnish with the orange zest.