Golden Beets and Citrus Salad

23. April 2010 Vegetables + Salads 0

After my bike ride with Jase and Kate around Central Park, they came over my apartment to eat brunch. I had roasted some beets the night before to prepare this salad because I wanted something very spring-like without having to do any cooking the next day. There were all kinds of citrus in the supermarket the night before, too, so I also bought a few of them to add. Feta cheese may sound weird here because goat cheese is the usual beet partner, but I think the saltiness of the feta worked well with the tanginess of the orange and the subtle bitterness of the grapefruit. I threw in some frisée to add a nice green touch to the yellows and oranges.

Ingredients:
6 large beets, washed and trimmed
juice from 1 orange
2 oranges, rind removed, sliced
1 grapefruit, rind removed, sliced
half a head of frisée, torn to smaller pieces
1/3 cup of crumbled feta cheese
1 small shallot, finely chopped
oil, salt, pepper

1. Preheat the oven to 400º. Wrap the beets in aluminum foil and place on a roasting pan and roast for about 1 hour or until tender. When cool, peel and cut them into chunks.
2. Make the dressing. In a small bowl, whisk the orange juice with the shallot. Marinate the shallot in the orange juice for 10 minutes, then whisk in the olive oil and season with salt and pepper. Toss the beets in the dressing and let sit until ready to use.
3. On each of your salad plates, put a handful of frisée, and then top with a few slices of oranges and grapefruit. Remove the beets and the shallots from the marinate with a slotted spoon and divide among the plates. Drizzle with the beet dressing. Toss and sprinkle with feta.