Farmers Market Beet Salad with Honey Blossom Vinaigrette

The best way to cook beets is to bake them in their skins so that they retain their full flavor and texture. Small beets, 1 to 1? inches in diameter, take about 1 hour. Larger beets need 15 to 20 minutes longer to bake.

Rating:: Not rated
Servings:: 8
Difficulty:
Total Time:
Recipe By:: Christopher Blobaum

Ingredients

2 pounds Baby Red Beets topped (save the tops for another dish)
1 1/4 cups Water
1/2 teaspoon Sea Salt
1/2 teaspoon Fresh Ground Pepper
1 sprig Thyme
1 tablespoon Purslane (optional)
1/2 cup Hazelnuts roasted skin removed and halved
4 teaspoon Wild Blossom Honey

Rice Wine Vinaigrette

2 Shallots minced
1/4 cup Rice Wine Vinegar
1/4 cup Extra Virgin Olive Oil
1/4 cup Grape Seed Oil
Salt and Fresh Ground Black Pepper to taste

Directions

Heat the oven to 375°F. In a baking dish, combine the beets and sprinkle with water. Season beets with fresh ground pepper, sea salt and thyme. Cover tightly with foil and bake until the beets are tender (60 min.). Remove the foil, let cool, and then rub off the beet skins.

Quarter the beets and season lightly with salt and pepper and toss with some of the vinaigrette.

When ready to serve, divide the beets among eight chilled salad plates, add hazelnuts and drizzle with honey. Garnish each plate with sprigs of purslane.