Daily Archives: May 1, 2007

The most beautiful freezer in the world

Oh, Take It Bake It was such a success. I think so, anyway – I now have, in my freezer, six servings of each of the following, in the order I picked them: Megan‘s healthy-sounding-but-probably-quite-evil-given-its-deliciousness spinach pie, Alex and Claire’s triple chocolate cookie sandwiches with strawberry ice cream centers, Sarah’s macaroni and cheese (I have some of this left from last night’s tasting and I’m actually considering scooping it into balls and deep-frying it), Maggi’s adorable star-shaped molten chocolate babycakes, Noah‘s spring-celebrating asparagus-leek soup, Justin and Laura’s Indian-spiced potato-filled phyllo samosas, and (last but not least) Lucia‘s chicken marbella. My, dear freezer, how lovely you look.

Here’s a salad I made for the party, inspired by a giant package of Point Reyes Blue Cheese that my in-laws sent us as a surprise this week, because they know how we cling to the stench of good dairy in this house. It looks like a sloppy, wet tangle of red, but the flavors of beet, pickled red onions, roasted walnuts, parsley, and the blue cheese make for one tasty salad.

Vinegared beet salad

Recipe for Vinegared Beet Salad
Recipe 121 of 365

You can toast the walnuts on baking sheet with the beets; they’ll only take about 8 minutes.

TIME: 20 minutes active time, plus occasional attention
MAKES: 6 to 8 servings

4 large red beets
1/2 large red onion, very thinly sliced
1/4 cup apple cider vinegar
1/2 teaspoon salt
Freshly ground pepper
2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
1 cup whole walnuts, toasted and cooled
1/4 cup crumbled blue cheese
1/4 cup parsley, roughly chopped

Preheat the oven to 400 degrees. Wrap the beets in foil and roast them on a baking sheet for 60 to 90 minutes, or until soft through to the center when you poke them with a skewer or a small, sharp knife.

While the beets roast, mix the sliced onion with the vinegar, salt, and some pepper in a small bowl and let sit, stirring every 15 minutes or so to redistribute the onions in the vinegar.

When the beets are done and cool enough to handle, peel them and slice them into thin wedges, and transfer them to a serving bowl.

Sakura tongs for beets

Add the onion mixture and the olive oil, toss to combine, and let sit until the beets cool to room temperature. Before serving, stir in the walnuts, blue cheese, and parsley, and season with additional salt and pepper, if necessary.

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