Roasted Beets with Rocket, Curly Cress, Little Gems, and Orange Balsamic Vinaigrette

The peppery notes of the cress and rocket play up the sweetness of the beets. The shreds of Little Gems add crunch and loft to the salad, while the orange in the dressing adds a bright note with some sweetness to marry with the beets and contrast with the nutty peppery cress and rocket. If you wish, you can serve the salad without the lettuce and use a standard Balsamic Vinaigrette. Use this as an accompaniment to things like steaks or roast chicken. You could also serve it alongside (or in the cup of the cap) roasted Portobello mushrooms. If you wanted you could add orange suprêmes to the salad just before serving.

INGREDIENTS:

1 bunch red or Chioggia beets, roasted sprinkled with white balsamic or red wine vinegar (See recipe on site), cut into ½ to ¾ inch wedges

1 bunch arugula, stemmed, washed thoroughly, and dried

2-3 cups curly cress, thicker stems removed, washed and dried

1-2 Little Gem lettuce heads (enough to yield 4 cups), cleaned and cut into ¼ inch strips

½ cup roasted salted sunflower seeds or roasted salted pistachios

Flaky salt to taste

1 cup, or as needed, Orange Balsamic Dressing (See recipe)

METHOD:

Place the beets in a non-reactive bowl, and drizzle with enough dressing to just coat them. Toss to coat evenly.

In another bowl, drizzle ¼ dressing and swirl the bowl to spread the dressing around. Add the cress, arugula, and lettuce shreds and gently toss (fingers are best here) to combine the greens with each other and then dressing. Add more dressing as needed to coat, but not weigh down the sprouts and rocket. Things should be dressed, but not clumping or sticking together in knots.

Sprinkle the dressed greens onto the beets, and then toss the contents of the bowl to combine.

Distribute between 4 chilled plates, scatter lightly with flaky salt, then scatter salads with the sunflower seeds or pistachios. Serve right away.

Chef’s Notes: If you wish, you could add bits of orange to the salad. Cut into suprêmes (See recipe on site) and cut them in half, or cut away skin and pith and quarter and orange or two and slice into 1/8^th inch slices. Add at end of recipe just before adding nuts/seeds.

Serves: 4

Source: Chef Andrew E Cohen