Roasted Beet Salad with Chili-Lime Vinaigrette

I am one of those people.  The Beet Haters. And like the cilantro-challenged and Team Hold-the-Mayo, I’ve chosen sides and stuck with it.  Despite near-weekly torture trials back in Philly, where we used to get beets in our CSA all season long, loathing remains. Try as I might, I just cannot stomach them. Regardless of color or cooking method, roasting, pickling, boiling, shredding, nothing can take away the beet-y taste of beets.

You’d think I would have learned, wouldn’t you?  And simply left that bunch of beets at the farmer’s market.  But no.  I am a glutton for punishment.  Their irresistible purple found its way into my grocery sack a week ago.  I couldn’t believe it either, so I hid them in my crisper bin.  But each time I reached for the carrots or a scallion or two, they stared back at me accusingly.  After pushing them aside for days, I actually felt bad for those beets.  What had they ever done to me?  Except taste bad?

Perhaps masking them with other flavors would help? And so I went on a quest for a beet-tastic recipe.  Something I hadn’t tried before.  I was looking for a way to use beets where beets featured prominently but weren’t the whole sha-bang.  I found today’s recipe on one of my favoritest of websites.  Nava Atlas’ Veg Kitchen.  Oooh how I love you, Nava!  You make even BEETS delicious!  It’s true!  Today’s salad will make even the staunchest of beet haters into a convert.  At least for this meal.

Here the beets are roasted.  The recipe calls for 2 medium beets, I only had tiny ones, so I used 6.  They’re scrubbed, then wrapped in aluminum foil.  After an hour in the oven, they’re peeled, then tossed with (get this) MANGO and ORANGE!  Set on a plate of crisp greens and sprinkled with almonds and an absolutely stellar chili-lime vinaigrette.  I couldn’t get enough!

So do I like beets?  No.  But I do like this recipe.  SO if you’re someone like me – a beet hater – try this.  Beets once a year won’t kill you.  And maybe, just maybe they contain some special vitamin you can’t get elsewhere.  Like a “magical purple B.”  I’m telling myself that anyway.

 

Adapted for a low sodium audience from Veg Kitchen with Nava Atlas.

Yields 4 servings.

SODIUM CONTENT: 25 mg per serving

INGREDIENTS:

Salad:
2 medium beets
1 orange, peeled, seeded and cut into bite-sized pieces
1 mango, peeled, pitted and diced
3 c. fresh spring greens
1/3 c. almonds, toasted and coarsely chopped

Vinaigrette:
3 T. freshly squeezed lime juice
1 T. apple cider vinegar
2 t. agave nectar
3 T. olive oil
1 t. Westbrae no salt added stoneground mustard, or equivalent
1 t. ground cumin
1/2 t. salt free chili powder

DIRECTIONS:

Preheat oven to 400 degrees.  Trim beets, then wash and wrap tightly in aluminum foil.  Place in oven and roast 1 hour.  Remove from oven and cool.  The skins should slip off – if not, gently peel them.  Cut the beets into bite-sized pieces.  (NOTE: Beets may be roasted a day ahead and kept wrapped and chilled in the refrigerator.)

Place beets in a bowl, add the diced orange and mango and toss well to combine; set aside.

In a small bowl, combine lime juice, cider vinegar, agave, olive oil, mustard, cumin and chili powder. Whisk until well combined.  (Makes about 1/3 cup of dressing, ample for salad plus leftovers.)

For salad, arrange greens on a platter or on individual plates. Top greens with diced beets, orange, mango and chopped nuts. Drizzle dressing on top and serve.

Print Friendly and PDF

Facebooktwitterredditpinterestlinkedintumblrmail
This entry was posted in Salads and Dressings, Vegan or Vegan Adaptable, Vegetarian and tagged , , . Bookmark the permalink.

8 Responses to Roasted Beet Salad with Chili-Lime Vinaigrette

Leave a Reply to shambo Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *