| Alfred Portale Simple Pleasures | William Morrow, 2004 | Serves 4
This simple, vibrant salad extracts everything beets have to offer by first roasting them to concentrate their flavor, then tossing them with orange segments, imbuing the beets with a crimson tint reminiscent of blood oranges.—Alfred Portale and Andrew Friedman
LC In a Pinch Note: We love when cookbook authors think of everything. Take Alfred Portale. Here he thoughtfully offers a little advance troubleshooting on some ingredient swapping. Like “If you think of feta cheese as dry, crumbly, and excessively salty, you’ve probably had the ubiquitous, mass-produced Greek variety that’s sold in supermarkets. Seek out a high-quality Greek or French feta, with moderate salinity and more creaminess.” Good stuff, right? He also condones swapping goat or blue cheese for the feta and blood oranges or tangerines for the navel orange.
Active time: 15 minutes | Total time: 2 hours, not including cooling.
Beet Salad with Feta, Orange, and Mint Recipe
Ingredients
- 2 large beets, washed but not peeled
- 2 tablespoons olive oil
- Coarse salt
- Freshly ground black pepper
- 1 teaspoon freshly squeezed orange juice
- 2 teaspoons balsamic vinegar
- 4 1/2 teaspoons extra-virgin olive oil
- 3 oranges, preferably navel, peeled and separated into segments
- 1/4 cup coarsely chopped mint leaves
- 3 teaspoons minced shallots
- About 4 ounces French or Greek feta cheese, crumbled into large pieces (1 cup crumbled)
Directions
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1. Preheat the oven to 400°F (200°C).
2. In a bowl, toss the beets with the olive oil and season them with salt and pepper. Put the beets on a roasting pan and cover them with foil. Roast in the preheated oven until tender, about 1 1/2 hours. (They are done when a sharp, thin-bladed knife can easily pierce through to their center.) Remove the pan from the oven, remove the beets from the pan, and set them aside to cool.
3. While the beets are roasting, make the vinaigrette: In a small bowl, whisk together the orange juice, balsamic vinegar, and extra-virgin olive oil. Season to taste with salt and pepper. Set aside.
4. When they are cool enough to handle, peel the beets and cut them into 1/2-inch dice. Put them in a bowl with 1 cup of the orange segments, the mint, and the shallots. Add the vinaigrette, season with salt and pepper, and toss gently.
5. Transfer the salad to a platter. Arrange the cheese and the remaining orange sections on top, and serve.
- Warm Salad of Roast Beets, Lentils & Balsamic Onions from The Stone Soup
- Thyme Roasted Baby Beets with Mint Vinaigrette from Kiss my Spatula
- Tangerine and Beet Salad from Leite’s Culinaria
- Goat Cheese, Roasted Beet, and Walnut Tart from Leite’s Culinaria
Beet salad with feta, orange, and mint recipe © 2004 Alfred Portale. Photo © 2004 Gozen Koshida. All rights reserved.
[Amy Iacopi] I can’t believe this doesn’t have 30+ ratings already! It’s such an interesting blend of ingredients, none too salty or too sweet. It was an impressive dish in appearance alone. I kept the orange wedges large and chopped the beets up in little squares—a nice mix of textures and colors. Finally, the taste – YUM! It was a very surprising, almost refreshing salad. We served it at the end of our meal, Italian-style, and it was perfect. I’ll definitely add this to my repertoire as it’s easy, beautiful, nutritious, and most important, delicious! Wow.