Finally, Fall has … well … fallen. The crops are harvested, the community gardens are turned over, the annual 40 day retreat is drawing to a close and we put up enough Green Tomato Relish that I actually had to buy more canning jars!
In homage to our farm’s amazing root crops, I offer this salad – substantial, nutritious and satisfying – perfect for this time of year.
BEET SALAD
Use enough beets to ensure ¼ pound per person. Do not peel before cooking.
Rinse and cover well with water, then bring to a boil. Lid the pot and simmer – 35 minutes for smallish beets up to an hour for very large ones. Drain and allow to steam off in a colander. When cool (you can even refrigerate overnight), peel and cut up beets. Dress with the following vinaigrette and allow to marinate at least one hour before serving. There is no in point trying to garnish this salad with different colours of vegetables as the beets will just stain them all a uniform red.
Note: this salad looks AMAZING using golden beets, although you might want to cut out the brown spices to let the glory of the yellow, gold and rose colours shine!
Cider Vinaigrette
(for beet salad or carrot slaw – as well as many other possibilities)
Whisk together in a large bowl ….
½ c good cider vinegar
2 Tbsp grainy Dijon mustard
2 Tbsp honey or maple syrup
½ tsp salt or to taste
¼ t pepper
½ t cinnamon and/or nutmeg and/or cloves
(¼ c apple cider reduction and/or a dash of hot sauce are both optional)
Whisk in slowly… to form an emulsion (like mayo)
½ c oil (I prefer to use olive or coconut oil for the health benefits, but both are solid at fridge temperature so you have to be careful to serve this salad at room temperature)
This should dress quite a bit of salad. It will also keep in the fridge almost indefinitely – although it might separate. Go heavier on the cloves for beets and on the cinnamon for carrots.
Welcome to the world, Hannah! Welcome to the kitchen, Shirley! Elaine, your recipe will be up next.
I still have a few hatches to batten down, so until next time – take care of each other!
Loyola House Kitchen 