The challenge: Turn beets into "caviar." I'm still wondering if Jesus attempted this one, or if he decided it would be easier and more impressive to turn water into wine. Plus, regardless of whether or not they had poppy seeds back then, I'm sure the masses did not want to be picking them out of their teeth. Please excuse me while I grab a tooth pick.
I'm not sure how to describe this recipe. The beets, while produce, are mostly sugar, which kick them off of most diets. However, the rest of the recipe is pretty healthy, so maybe its meant as a dieter's indulgence while staying away from the brownies. I did like the beet topping, though it takes a bit of work.
The recipe calls for roasting a pound of beets in order to remove the skin and chopping into a 1/8" square or a very fine dice. Its enough to make a girl wonder if Emeril is trying to recover from counting cards or some other issue better off not mentioned. (Please note, I do not care for chopping, and have never cared for a very fine dice). The beets can be roasted a day in advance, I cheated and made it two, as I diverged into the world of canning orange marmalade last night. I have not decided where to blog that experience.
I was also glad I was wearing red today, as a friend once suggested that if you are messy, you're food colors should match your clothing colors. Today was a good day for red, then.
Once the beets are chopped, they can be set aside while you make the vinaigrette. There is one thing I did like about the recipe, once the incessant chopping is done, and the shallot is minced, it is not terribly fussy, and you can leave it set to go have a chat with a friend while you prep it. So, I got to the orange juice, first thing-quite easy with a nice juice reamer. I added white cooking wine for the white wine vinegar(close enough, here), minced some more shallot, tossed in some poppy seeds, chatted with a friend, came back to combine those, then remembered the orange zest. A few moments later I remembered the salt and fresh ground white pepper(mixed peppercorns-as previously confessed). I then stirred it all together with a fork again and tossed the beets with 2/3 of the mix and the arugula with the remaining third. I then assembled the salad and tasted.
The beet mixture was pretty good, but not excellent or to die for. The arugula was a little bitter. I wasn't sure I liked it or would make this recipe again-at least not without mixed baby herbs or as a topping to a crostini as suggested in the notes. When I reviewed the recipe before I began the blog, I realized I had forgotten the chive oil I made the other night. I made myself a second plate, grateful this was a salad and not duck or some other fattening recipe. I assembled the salad once again and proceeded to pour the chive oil over top of the salad, and found the chive oil helped greatly to cut down on the bitterness of the arugula. Its actually pretty good this way. This is not the crave worthy recipe of some of the cheese family recipes or the meyer lemon pudding cakes, and now, I wonder how it would taste with a bit of cheese--I'll be right back.
The cheese didn't make it horrible, but it didn't make it decadent either. I think the chive oil is enough to balance the flavors. So if aunt Betty gave you tons of beets and you feel like chopping until your arms fall off, enjoy this relatively healthy salad. Or if you really like beets or arugula.
I may make this recipe again, definitely with the chive oil, and probably with mixed baby greens or crostini with garlic and oil. However, I am not running out to buy more beets, as a friend just requested Brussels Sprouts and I happily said, 'I have a great recipe, I'll even copy it for you." It was good, just not great. But they all can't be winners, because then I wouldn't be able to pick favorites, and fortunately, recipes don't care if you like another recipe better;-).
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