I love beets. This is a pretty straight-forward salad, but its very pretty. Much more so than the usual pile o' lettuce with dressing on top. The dressing was inspired by some fig vinegar that Ed picked up at Formaggio's the other day. Its yummy, but I'm sure you'll be fine without it. The salad was inspired by this beet carpaccio in the Boston Globe, although really the only shared characteristics are the thinly-sliced beets.
Beet-chevre salad with fig-balsamic vinegrette:
2 beets
1/2 an avocado
2-3 oz soft fresh crumbly goat cheese (not sure how else to describe it)
1/4 red onion
Mint (or basil or any fresh herb really. Or even any baby lettuce) leaves
Dressing: (amounts are approximate)
3 tbs Fig-balsamic vinegar
4 tbs Olive oil
1 tbs Dijon or other strong mustard
1 tbs Molasses
salt to taste
For the dressing: Mix everything together in a bowl with a fork. Taste it. Add other things until it tastes how you like it.
For the salad:
Scrub the beets pretty clean, but don't peel them, and wrap them in tin foil. Bake them in a 400F oven for 30-40 minutes until they can be poked easily with a fork. Take them out of the oven, hold them in a bowl of cold water, and rub the skins with your fingers (if you care about not having pink cuticles, wear gloves) until the skin comes off. Using a mandolin, cut very thin slices of the beets and arrange them prettily on a plate.
Using a super sharp knife, cut some really thin pieces of red onion. I like to quarter the onion, and then holding it on the flat edge, cut slices so that you get the curve of the onion in each piece. Really thin. Sprinkle the onion slices on top of the beets.
Crumble the goat cheese and sprinkle that on top of the beets and onions. Slice the avocado and arrange the slices around the edge of the plate. Sprinkle some mint leaves on top of the beets. Drizzle dressing all over the thing. Eat. Enjoy.
This serves two, as a very small salad. I could easily eat the whole thing myself... but I have quite the appetite.
2 comments:
I just recently got some Mission Fig Balsamic Vinegar for a friend's housewarming! It's is certainly delicious stuff; the sweetness of the fig seems to balance the acidity of the vinegar really nicely. I'll be sure to try this, since Alex B and I both really love beets (and I love figs!).
delish! Great combo and a nice dressing!
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