This is a fantastic, fresh, light, vibrant salad that's perfect for late winter into early Spring when all of the ingredients are in season. The mélange of flavors and textures work together in perfect harmony.

For a recent recent dinner gathering with friends, we selected to bring the salad course. The theme of the gathering was "Farm to Table." I noticed what was in season on our weekly Farmer's Market visits. When I saw a salad in one of my Alice Water's cookbooks it matched up perfectly with what was available at the Farmer's Market. Our citrus vendor was getting close to finishing up with the blood oranges. Our vegetable vendor had plenty of beets and always has bags of arugula. Waters' salad called for endive but I did a trial run for some friends and decided to make a switch from endive to arugula. I also decided to use pistachios instead of walnuts. The addition of crumbled goat cheese was the perfect ingredient to give the salad a hint of creaminess.

Why use blood oranges when you can just use more common oranges? First, there's the deep red color that will be present in the fruit and the juice. While it may appear "blood-like," it's actually anthocyanin, a natural chemical compound. This compound is present in blueberries, blackberries, tomatoes, rhubarb, etc. The deep red color, along with the red beets, gives this salad an interesting color. Blood oranges also taste slightly different from other oranges. They are sweeter than regular oranges but also less tart making it a better choice for this salad. But, yes, you can use other oranges but if you can get blood oranges, go for it and give it a try. 

Serve the salad on one or two large platters and let your guests take as much as they want. 

Beets, Blood Oranges, and Arugula Salad

Serves 6

Ingredients:

• Beets - 10 medium beets, mixed red and gold
• Blood oranges - 6, peeled with a knife
• Arugula - 5-6 oz.
• Avocados - 4, cut in half, pitted, and diced
• Roasted pistachios - 3/4 cup
• Goat cheese - 6 oz.
• Orange juice - 4 Tbsp., fresh is better but store bought will work
• Orange zest - from 1 orange (regular if using fresh oranges or use the blood oranges)
• Olive oil - 1/2 cup
• White balsamic vinegar - 4 Tbsp.
• Honey - 2 Tbsp. 
• Salt and pepper - to taste

Instructions:

1. Preheat oven to 400º
2. Trim and wash the beets and roast them in a covered dish with just enough water to cover the bottom. Roast colors separately. 
3. Zest one of the oranges using a microplane. 
4. While the beets roast, use a knife to trim off the top and bottom of each blood orange. Pare off the rest of the peel and remove the pith.
5. 
   Slice the oranges crosswise into 1/4 inch rounds and quarter each slice. 
   
6. When beets are done and cool enough to handle, peel them and slice into rounds and quartered.
7. Make the vinaigrette by mixing the vinegar, orange juice, zest, and honey. Slowly whisk in the olive oil. Season with salt and pepper.
8. To serve, place all beets in a large bowl and add a little bit of the vinaigrette and stir to coat. 
9. Cover the bottom of a serving platter with the beets. 
10. Place arugula, blood oranges, and pistachios in a large bowl. Slowly add the some dressing and stir to mix and allow the vinaigrette to break down the arugula ever so slightly. 
11. Distribute the salad mix on top of the plated beets. Top with additional pistachios and crumbled goat cheese.

Roasted Beets on Hummus

Around this time of year we start to get a lot of beets in the box. We've been getting better about using up the beet greens in weeknight stir-fries. For the beets themselves, I have tended to roast them and I add them to salads along with celery, carrots, and roasted almonds. 

But over the holidays, we were up in Healdsburg for a few days and had a very nice dinner at John Ash in Santa Rosa. One of the courses was, for me, a complete standout. It was roasted beets served over a base of hummus and drizzled with a verjus vinaigrette. 

I did a little research and discovered that verjus is the pressed juice of unripe grapes. It is similar to vinegar but the flavor is more subtle and gentle. I have not seen it in the local supermarkets but it can be obtained online for $20-$25. But each brand can have its own taste and it could take one some time and money to find a brand you like.

So I have served this as a side dish a number of times at home since I had it at the restaurant--all the while thinking about how best to bring this recipe to the home cook. You can substitute rice wine or white wine vinegar for the verjus. To make a vinaigrette you want 3 parts vinegar with one part oil. I made the mistake of trying a flavored oil which didn't work at all. You can also use any type of salad dressing that's in the Italian family. Whether it's your own or bottled, you just don't want to overdo the application. The hummus and beets have plenty of flavor. The vinaigrette just heightens the existing flavors. Experiment and find your own preference. 

For the beets, you most often will find the classic red beets but golden beets are increasingly available. I used a mix on the night I took the photos. Roasting them together causes the golden beets to turn red. Wash beets thoroughly and cut off the tops and the rat tail-like base. Put them in a roasting pan with just enough water to cover the base of the dish. Cover and place them in a 350 degree oven for an hour. Remove and let cool. When they are cool enough to handle, use your fingers to peel off the skin. Cut them up and they will keep for about a week in the refrigerator. 

This is an excellent side dish that is hearty and filling. The hummus keeps it grounded but the beets are subtle, sweet but still earthy. The splashes of Italian dressing adds some brightness.

Roasted Beets on Hummus

Ingredients:

• 4-6 beets - roasted, peeled, and diced
• hummus - store bought or homemade
• vinaigrette of choice

Directions:

• Use a spoon to lay down a bed of hummus
• Spoon some beets over the top
• Drizzle a bit of vinaigrette over the top

Beet and Fennel Salad

Some of the FFTY box contents for this week have already been used. Most of the heirloom tomatoes along with some parsley were used in tonight's pasta puttanesca dinner. I dried the rest of the parsley using the oven method covered earlier.

Also in this week's box was a bunch of beets. Soon after we started the FFTY box, I learned that I actually like fresh-cooked beets. The first time we got beets in the box (2007), I made a recipe that was, for the most part, on the FFTY sheet that comes with each box. Today, I cooked the beets and made the recipe again. There's room for variation but here's the basic recipe:

Ingredients:

• 1 bunch beets
• 2 Tbsp capers
• 1/4 cup olive oil
• 3 Tbsp sherry vinegar (use what you have on hand)
• 1 fennel head

Steps:

• Early in the day, preheat oven to 375 degrees
• Trim and rinse the beets - keep the beet greens for other uses
• Place the cleaned beets in a covered pyrex dish with some water (just enough to cover the bottom) and bake for 60 minutes
• When cooled, peel beets and slice into wedges and place into a large bowl
• Rinse capers and let dry on a paper towel
• Heat 1-2 Tbsp. olive oil in a small skillet. Add capers and shake skillet constantly until capers begin to brown -- about 1 minute.
• Add 3 Tbsp. olive oil to beets in bowl
• Stir in vinegar and salt to taste
• Cut the fennel bulb into thin cresents and add to beets
• Add capers and stir mixture to coat

Beet Green Confessional

I've been enjoying cooking fresh beets mostly using them for salads but all this time I have been tossing the greens. Each time I did a small voice in my head kept asking, "Aren't beet greens edible?"

Finally one evening the guilt got to me and I did some online research and found that I've been tossing away a great green. Fortunately, this week's box included 3 monster beets which I will certainly use but I also made the effort to separate the greens from the beet and made them as a side in tonight's dinner.

I got online and blended a number of recipes. Most called for red onion and I didn't have any on hand. But I did have a lot of shallots in this week's delivery so I substituted shallots. I followed this blended recipe:

• Thoroughly wash beet greens and dry them in a salad spinner
• Cut the greens into smaller pieces and wash again
  
• Heat olive oil in a skillet
• Add 2 large cloves of chopped shallots and let cook for 5 minutes
• Add 2-3 cloves minced garlic and cook for a few minutes
• Add beet greens and 3/4 cup of water
• Stir until well mixed
• Reduce heat, cover skillet, and let simmer for 5-15 minutes
• Stir in 1 tablespoon Balsamic vinegar, a generous dash of red pepper flakes, and salt and pepper to taste

Overall, it was a good starting point but I would decrease the amount of water next time next time. Maybe 1/2 cup.

There's more to explore here but the basic lesson is don't toss those beet greens.