Beet Salad with Beet Vinaigrette
The thing I love most about this salad is that it is a completely atypical beet salad. More times than not you find roasted beet salads on menus, and in this case the salad is comprised of raw beets, which are so much sweeter, juicy and crunchy than a roasted version of beets, which are soft and earthy. One of the joys of being a chef is that I get to turn on the creative juices to try and convert people with food aversions and this beet salad gets supposed beet-haters every time. So give it a go, even if you think you don’t love beets.
Ingredients
Makes 2 servings
Beet Salad
2 large beets, julienned, with ¼ cup of trimmings reserved for vinaigrette
1 cup mascarpone cheese
1 bunch watercress
½ cup toasted pistachios, recipe follows
Beet vinaigrette, recipe follows
Toasted Pistachios
½ cup pistachios
1/8 teaspoon sugar
1/8 teaspoon kosher salt
Beet vinaigrette
1 cup red wine vinegar
Reserved beet trimmings from beet salad (above)
3 shallots
¼ cup sugar
Pinch of salt
½ cup extra virgin olive oil
¼ teaspoon cracked black pepper
Preparation
Cut the beets into a julienne (thin matchsticks) for the salad, reserving the rougher trimmings for the vinaigrette.
Cook and chop the pistachios (see below)
Rinse and dry the watercress
Peel and thinly slice the shallots
Bring the red wine vinegar, sugar, reserved beet trimmings, and sliced shallots to a boil and simmer until the sugar has dissolved, about 1 minute.
Remove from the heat and add the olive oil, season with salt and pepper to taste.
Stir and set aside, allowing the flavors to develop while you prepare the ingredients for the salad.
Strain the vinaigrette just before using it.
Preheat the oven to 325ºF
Spread the chopped pistachios onto a sheetpan and season with sugar and kosher salt.
Toast for 3-4 minutes, or until lightly browned and fragrant.
Remove from oven and set aside to cool.
In a mixing bowl, toss the julienned beets with the toasted pistachios and two tablespoons of the strained vinaigrette.
Allow this mixture to sit for 5 minutes before adding the greens.
With the greens added, toss the salad one more time to coat the greens in the dressing.
Spread a layer of mascarpone cheese in the center of each salad plate.
Top with the beet salad.
Julienne is a French cooking term that simply refers to cutting a vegetable into thin matchsticks as opposed to a dice.
Preheat the oven to 325ºF
Spread the chopped pistachios onto a sheetpan and season with sugar and kosher salt.
Toast for 3-4 minutes, or until lightly browned and fragrant.
Remove from oven and set aside to cool.
In a mixing bowl, toss the julienned beets with the toasted pistachios and two tablespoons of the strained vinaigrette.
Allow this mixture to sit for 5 minutes before adding the greens.
With the greens added, toss the salad one more time to coat the greens in the dressing.
Spread a layer of mascarpone cheese in the center of each salad plate.
Top with the beet salad.
Julienne is a French cooking term that simply refers to cutting a vegetable into thin matchsticks as opposed to a dice.
In the restaurant I make this salad with robiolina cheese, a super soft Italian cow’s milk cheese – velvety and luxurious, similar to American cream cheese. I find it can be difficult to source in my local markets, unless I go to a really nice cheese shop, which is always a fun excursion. But, when I want to put this salad together in my home kitchen, I usually make it the way I have here – with mascarpone cheese as a substitute.
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