The beets are sublime this time of year from Sassafras Creek Organic Farm in St. Mary's County. They have all shapes and sizes, but this weekend I selected a bunch of orange beets, that when peeled, reveal a beautiful, sweet golden root. Our favourite way to prepare this "salad" is to sous vide them in a sauce of orange zest and ginger, but they could just as easily be roasted, boiled or steamed and the dressing made separately.
Ingredients
1lb Beets, trimmed, peeled and halved. Any color or combination (yes, the dark reds will bleed a little, but it's all good)
1 Tbsp EVOO
2 Tbsp Rice Vinegar (or other white vinegar)
1 Tsp Honey
Zest and juice of an orange
1/2 Tsp finely grated ginger
1 Tsp kosher salt
For Finishing
Flakey Sea Salt or fleur de sel
Black Pepper
EVOO
Chopped Pistachios
Hard Goat Cheese (Rosey Goat, Goat Gouda, Drunken Goat....)
For the sous vide method, whisk oil, vinegar, honey, orange zest and juice, ginger and salt and add to a zip loc bag with the beets.
Cook at 85°C for 90 minutes. To check for doneness, pierce a beet with the tip of a paring knife. If too hard, pop them back in for another 30 minutes, then check again.
Sieve the liquid into a saucepan and reduce until slightly thicker.
Let the sauce and the beets cool to room temp.
Cut each beet half into 4 segments (depending on their size) and toss in the sauce.
Drizzle the beets with some EVOO, season with sea salt and cracked pepper, and sprinkle with pistachios and goat cheese shavings.
For stove top or oven roasted beets, cook until done and prepare the sauce separately before tossing and dressing as above!