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Our friend Joanne Chang is a professional chef and boss lady. Her books, Flour and Flour, Too have a TON of awesome recipes for breakfast, lunch, and dinner! There were honestly so many to choose from but we for the final day of our #ChronicleKitchen & #ApronSquad Book Week, we picked this beautiful, super colorful beet salad because it's almost summer time and this seems like the perfect dish for a picnic at the park or by the lake with your pet pig, you dig?
Blood Orange and Beet Salad with Toasted Walnuts, Goat Cheese, and Blood Orange Vinaigrette
In Boston in the dead of winter, when the skies are gray day in and day out and you can’t remember which snowfall caused the slushy snowbanks just outside the window, this salad is a welcome reprieve. Chef Corey at Flour1 created this brightly colored appetizer for one of our holiday menus. The day before Christmas, when the bulk of our customers were picking up their orders, Corey had his worktable and the pastry table next to it lined up with container after container of gorgeous ruby red citrus and sun gold and magenta beets. He arranged a little arugula underneath the oranges and beets and scattered generous dollops of soft goat cheese on top. It was stunning. When making this at home, toss the salad with the tangy blood orange vinaigrette at the last minute so that the various colors don’t run.
Serves 6 to 8 as a first course
2 lb/910 g beets, a mix of red and gold
1 tsp kosher salt
1 cup/115 g walnut pieces
2 blood oranges (or regular oranges if you can’t find blood oranges)
Blood Orange Vinaigrette
1 blood orange
(or regular orange if you can’t find blood oranges)
1 small shallot, finely diced
2 tsp Dijon mustard
2 tsp honey
1 tsp kosher salt
1/8 tsp freshly ground black pepper
3 tbsp sherry vinegar
¼ cup/60 ml extra-virgin olive oil
8 cups/200 g loosely packed baby arugula
8 oz./225 g soft fresh goat cheese
Special Equipment: rimmed baking sheet
Microplane or other fine-rasp grater
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Cut the tops from the beets, leaving a little of the stem intact, and scrub them well. Put the beets in a large saucepan, sprinkle with the salt, and add water to cover by about 2 in/5 cm. Cover and bring to a boil over high heat. Reduce the heat to medium-low and simmer for about 1 hour, or until the beets are tender and can be easily pierced with a paring knife. Drain and set aside until the beets are just cool enough to be handled comfortably. Using a kitchen towel (find an old one that you won’t mind staining) to hold the beets, remove the skins by rubbing the towel firmly against the beets. When the beets are completely cool, cut them into bite-size wedges.
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Meanwhile, preheat the oven to 350°F/150°C, and place a rack in the center of the oven. Spread the walnuts in a single layer on the baking sheet and toast in the oven, shaking the pan once or twice for even toasting, for 8 to 10 minutes, or until the nuts are golden brown. Remove from the oven and let cool.
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Cut the top and bottom off of each orange. Stand one of the oranges on a flat end. Using a sharp paring knife, carve away the rind from the orange, starting from the top and cutting downward and curving inward, until all the rind is gone and you are left with just the fruit. Repeat with the remaining orange. Cut the oranges crosswise into thin slices and set aside for the salad.
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To make the vinaigrette : Working directly over a small bowl, grate the zest from the orange with the Microplane. Cut the orange in half and squeeze the juice into the grated zest. Add the shallot, Dijon mustard, honey, salt, and pepper. Whisk in the vinegar and then slowly whisk in the olive oil until well blended. Taste and adjust the seasoning if needed. The vinaigrette can be made up to 1 week in advance and stored in an airtight container in the fridge. Bring back to room temperature and rewhisk to combine the ingredients before using.
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Arrange the arugula in a large, shallow bowl. In a medium bowl, toss the beets with 2 to 3 tbsp of the vinaigrette, coating them evenly. Top the arugula with the beets, orange slices, walnuts, and dollops of the goat cheese. Serve the remaining dressing on the side.
Remember to enter our Instagram Giveaway with Chronicle Books! All you gotta do is follow @hedleyandbennett (which, let's be honest, you probably already do!) and @chroniclebooks (beautiful feed, thank us later!) and tag 3 friends in the comments. Easiest way to win an apron & cookbook ever! Go! Now!!
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