Beet and Orange Salad
This salad is a most beautiful when a mix of beet and orange types are used. Red, golden and striped beets paired with blood oranges and cara cara make for a colorful display and more depth of flavor. This is a sunny and refreshing salad for winter when oranges are in season.
Ingredients
- 12 small or medium sized beets
- Extra-virgin olive oil
- salt and pepper
- red wine vinegar
- 5 Oranges-Moro, Cara Cara, or a combination of any oranges you wish
- 1/4 tsp very finely chopped rosemary optional
- Nicoise or another brined black olive optional
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 375°F. Trim off the beet tops, leaving 1 inch of stem and the root intact. This will minimize the color of the beets leaching out. This is why, if you are using different colored beets, you should roast them in different pans. Wash them and put them in their roasting pans with about a half inch of water on the bottom. Cover and roast until tender, about 45 minutes. They are done when they can easily be pierced through with a sharp knife.
- Let the beets cool until you can handle them. Using a paper towel, rub skins off of the beets. Cut some of the beets into crosswise slices, and some into wedges. Be sure to keep the red beets away from the others at all times to avoid staining them. In their separate bowls, add a little vinegar and salt to your taste and set aside. Allow them to absorb the flavor, then taste again after about 10 minutes to see if they need additional vinegar and salt. Add olive oil to lightly coat.
- Cut the tops and bottoms off of four of the oranges. With a sharp knife, cut away the peel from top to bottom, ensuring that you remove all of the bitter membranes. Set the oranges aside.
- Make a vinaigrette by grating half of the zest from the remaining orange into a bowl. Squeeze about 3 tbsp of juice from the orange and add it to the bowl along with the rosemary-if using. Rosemary will really bring out the earthiness of this dish, so only use if you want to amplify that flavor. Add an additional teaspoon of vinegar and season with salt and pepper. Let macerate for 30 minutes, then add about 1/4 cup of olive oil. Taste and adjust for salt and acid to your liking.
- When ready to serve, carefully slice the peeled oranges crosswise into 1/4 inch rounds. Arrange them on a platter with any beets you are using that are not red. Carefully place the red beets last. Spoon the vinaigrette over the salad and garnish with some black olives, if using.