"BeetSalad" news and stories

This week I'm featuring four days of salads, this being the summer solstice, and the height of salad madness. This combo of beets and oranges, from blogger gregturner, looks like a field of scarlet poppies, and tastes earthy-tropical. Beets and oranges work together like the old Cagney and Lacey team-level-headed with a high-strung edge. OK, that's a stretch; I just wanted to work in Cagney and Lacey somehow, just having seen a rerun of the show and feeling all 1980s, but you get the picture. In this recipe, a little red onion is added, and it's dressed with a balsamic vinaigrette. (See another beet-orange-and-walnut salad recipe at Kitchen Daily.)

And if beets are your thing, and you want more Cagney than Lacey, check out this post on beet hummus, or this recipe for summer borscht.

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Being part-Polish I should love borscht. The beety flavor, the gorgeous red hue. It's one of the big staples along with my beloved pierogies and galumpkis. But I just couldn't get into it. I began to feel bad about this distaste when my great aunt came to visit from Poland and cooked for us. Years later, I still fear the soup, but since I've been on a huge kick to remove as many foods on my no-eat list, I figured beets were a good area to tackle next. That, and I got some beautiful ones in my last organic food delivery.

I searched the web and settled on Roasted Beet Salad with Beet Greens, courtesy of Epicurious. In the comments, a few people swore that beet haters loved this, so I had to try. It's simple, almost fool-proof. I got antsy and nuked my beets half-way through (it was getting really late at night), and I am happy to say -- they were delicious. The vinaigrette cuts some of the beet flavor, and is paired wonderfully with the garlic, capers, feta, and beet greens. When you do get some of the strong, beet flavor, it's much easier to take, get used to, and like. In fact, I'm hooked on salad now. It hasn't even been a week, and I've already picked up more beets. For other beety options, try this beet and goat cheese salad, or this carrot and beet salad.

Step two: Borscht.