NOTE: I spend my Wednesdays Unplugged from appointments. It's my day to stay home, enjoy cooking and welcome our kids and grandkids for dinner in the evening. We end our meal with quotes from the Norwegian 'Quote Cup' passed on to me from my grandmother. I share a quote and a recipe here each week, and sometimes some photos of family fun. I love trying new recipes…and love getting recipes you would like to share!
QUOTE OF THE WEEK
"If you want to build a ship, don't drum up people together to collect wood and don't assign them tasks and work, but rather teach them to long for the sea." ~ Antoine de Saint-Exupery
I got a little behind this morning because this isn't a standard Wednesday… I did some work on a new listing because we're getting ready for the July 4th holiday weekend, heading up to the south shore of Lake Superior… but perhaps even more significant is the fact that today is our daughter and son-in-law's 10th anniversary… it can't really be that long already!
RECIPE OF THE WEEK
Last week I really felt like vegetables and made a medley of salads. This roasted beet salad from the Food Network was one of my favorites. The recipe calls for 4 cups of baby spinach but I used only about 2 cups (5 ounce bag) and it was plenty as far as I was concerned. I didn't feel it needed the toasted almonds so didn't add them. Of course, I was all about the beets with the spinach more as garnish. If the point is a green salad incorporating beets the larger amount of spinach and almonds would be in order. It took a long time to reduce the juice (I used orange instead of tangerine)… just let it simmer away while I did other things.
ROASTED BEET SALAD with BLUE CHEESE
recipe by Michael Chiarello, foodnetwork.com
3 medium yellow beets (about 1 pound), stems trimmed off
- 3 medium red beets (about 1 pound), stems trimmed off
- 2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
- Salt and freshly ground black pepper
- 4 cups baby leaf spinach
- 1/4 pound whole piece blue cheese (frozen)
- Toasted almonds
- 3 cups tangerine or orange juice
- 1 tablespoon lemon juice
- Pinch salt and pepper
- 3/4 cup extra-virgin olive oil
Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Freeze piece of blue cheese.
Place beets in rectangular pan divided in two by two pieces of aluminum foil to keep beet colors from bleeding into one another. Place one color beets on one side, the other color on the other side. Drizzle with oil and season with salt. Cover with foil and bake for about 1 hour, until tender when pierced with a knife.
While the beets are roasting reduce the tangerine or orange juice to about 3/4 cup, simmering over medium-high heat. Remove from heat and strain with a fine seive.
Return to the saucepan, add lemon juice, salt and pepper. Over medium heat, reduce until the mixture bubbles and has a syrup-like consistency. You should have about 1/4 cup. Remove from the heat and strain again. Let cool to room temperature. Add olive oil and set aside.
When cool enough to handle, peel the beets and thinly slice into rounds. Arrange around the perimeter of a round serving platter and drizzle with dressing. In a large bowl, toss the spinach with the remaining dressing and mound in the center of serving platter. Using a microplane grater, grate the desired amount of blue cheese over the salad. Garnish with toasted almonds if desired.
Sharlene Hensrud, RE/MAX Results - Email – HomesMSP.com
RELATED POSTS
