Roasted Beet, Pine nut, and crispy brussel sprout salad with blood orange vinaigrette
This is a nice vegan, gluten free recipe that makes a great start to any meal.
This is part of our Valentine’s dinner series, but good any time of year.
Table of Contents
Roasted Beet Salad with Blood orange vinaigrette
Ingredients
- 1 medium beet
- 1 t olive oil
- 1 dash salt
- 4 Ounces baby greens Can use arugula or mesclun, or other greens available
- 1 T Toasted Pine Nuts
- 1/2 cup thin shaved onion preferably vidalia
- 1/2 cup baby brussel sprouts
- 1 cup neutral flavored oil for frying
- 1/4 cup honey
- 1/2 cup red wine vinegar
- 1/2 cup blood orange juice preferably fresh squeezed or substitute regular orange juice
- 1 cup Salad Oil
- 1/2 t dijon mustard
- salt and pepper to taste
Instructions
- Clean the beat with skin on. Coat with oil and salt. Place in a relatively deep pan with a bit of water to cover 1/4 of the beet. Cover with foil and put in a 400 degree oven.
- Roast the beet for 1 hour. Check it to see if it is still hard. Give it more time if needed. When it is done, it will still be firm, but yield a bit to the touch.
- Allow the beet to cool. When cool, peel it. The skin should rub off by hand. It may need a little help from a paring knife. Cut the beet into wedges, cubes, or whichever shape you prefer. Hold in fridge until service
- Toast the pine nuts. Place them in a single layer spread out on a flat pan. Put in a 300 degree, pre-heated oven for approximately 10 minutes until they get a golden brown hue
- Make the vinaigrette. Put all the ingredients except the oil in a blender. Turn on at high speed. Add the oil through the opening in the blender top while it is running until it is emulsified and thick.
- Build the salad on each plate with everything except the brussels and dressing.
- If you have a fryer, use that. If not, heat a neutral high temp oil over medium high heat in a deep pan. When it is hot enough, put in the brussel sprouts. Fry them until they begin to brown around the edges and get crispy. Remove with a spider strainer or other other porous basket or spoon. Dry on paper towels.
- Add the brussels, dress the salad, and serve.
- I like to accompany this course with bread. Instead of butter or margarine, a nice flavored olive oil with fresh ground pepper and sea salt is a nice touch. Dip and enjoy.
Notes
Not only is this vegan and healthy, it happens to be gluten free. You can always use different types of nuts, and if you want, you can add goat cheese for a less healthy, but nicer salad. Vegan goat cheeses are available or you can make your own. That is something we can cover later.