Having read the recipe linked below and drooled over the photo, I had high hopes for it. I planned on serving it with an herbed wild rice pilaf and was looking forward to the mix of textures and the earthy tastes of the beets and the wild rice complementing one another. Two things precluded that: my unwillingness to use the amount of oil required in the original recipe and the water content of my yellow beets.
I will be attempting the recipe below at some point, along with my pilaf but -- in the meantime, I have an excellent new salad to share with you.
1 medium sized beet, well scrubbed, both ends removed, halved
1 shallot, unpeeled but washed, ends removed
1 1/2 cups assorted greens (I used a mixture of pea shoots and mixed greens)
1 Tbsp chopped herb (I used tarragon, because I like tarragon with beets, but whatever you have available to use will work just fine. You are looking for little pops of freshness to brighten up the earthiness of the beet pieces)
1 cup assorted salad items of your choice (I used tomato, sliced mushrooms and diced peppers as I had them in the fridge, but use your salad favorites)
1 Tbsp chopped green onion
1/2 tsp freshly ground ginger
1 Tbsp olive oil
1 1/2 tsps red wine vinegar
Preheat the oven to 400.
While it is preheating, place your beet halves and your shallot on a piece of aluminum foil. Gather the ends of the foil around the vegetables and, just before you crimp the ends into a tight packet, add one tablespoon of water to the vegetables. Close the packet tightly and place in the oven.
Bake for 35 minutes and then turn off the heat and allow the beet to finish cooking in the oven's residual heat until cool, about an hour. Set aside until needed.
When you are ready to assemble your salad, heat the oil in a skillet.
While it is heating, remove the beets and the shallot from the foil packet. Smash the beet gently into pieces and squeeze the shallot from its skin.
Add the beet pieces, the chopped green onion and the ginger to the oil in the pan. Make sure that the heat is on medium-low and allow to cook undisturbed for three or four minutes while you assemble the rest your salad.
Place your greens, vegetables and the shallot, which you can break off into "petals" on a plate.
Turn the beet pieces over and cook for two more minutes then add the vinegar to the pan and stir up all the crispy bits on the bottom of the pan.
Pour the whole thing over the salad that you have waiting and dig in. I did not feel the need to salt this salad but please check for seasoning in case you feel it needs it.
If you cook the beet and shallot the day before or while you do something else earlier in the day, this is an eight minute and six second to the table dish.
Inspiration recipe, here.