Spring is finally here to stay and with it an abundance of vegetables that we have waited all winter long for. Carrots, asparagus, hearty greens, fiddleheads, radishes, leeks, fennel, artichokes and beets, just to name a few.
I’m not sure about you, but I have slowly become a fan of beets. In my younger days I used to question these colored root vegetables but now I find myself eating them more and more.
Beets are often eaten cooked, either by roasting, steaming, boiling or grilling. Beets can come in many shades of color, often found at your grocer are the deep red beet or sometimes the golden beet. I prefer my beets cold after cooking, dressed in a salad with some goat cheese. Beets can also be eaten hot. Roasted and drizzled with a balsamic glaze, delicious.
Another spring vegetable that has become more present in my kitchen is fennel. Fennel can appear in a few different forms, there is the fennel bulb, which is closely related to celery but has an anise or licorice like flavor and basically stands on its own in the vegetable world. Then there is fennel used as an herb and fennel seeds, which both come from the top part of a fennel plant.
Fennel on its own is not something I personally would jump up and down for. But tossed in a salad or mixed with other good eat vegetables, I’m in.
Both beets and fennel go great when tossed or dressed with some kind of a sweet acidic component. Whether it is fresh juice from oranges or flavored vinegar, either way the acid brightens up the flavor of the beets and fennel and the sweetness helps to round out the flavors.
In the recipe provided there is no specific way to cook the beets, perfect for if you have leftovers or prefer them a certain way. For this salad I prefer the beets and fennel to be sliced thin, using a mandolin you can achieve very thin slices but feel free to even quarter or dice your beets and just use a knife to thinly slice your fennel if a mandolin is not available.
Beet, Fennel & Blood Orange Salad
Serves: 4-6
Ingredients:
1 cup walnut oil or blended oil
1/3 cup raspberry wine vinegar
2 T honey
3 T orange juice, fresh squeezed
½ t salt
½ t pepper
6 medium sized beets, cooked and sliced thin
1 fennel bulb, core removed and sliced thin
2-3 blood oranges, rind and pith removed, cut into wedges or slices
Herbs, micro greens or goat cheese crumble for garnish
• Whisk together the first 6 ingredients to form a dressing. Pour ¾ of the dressing over the beets and toss. If time allows, let beets marinate in fridge for an hour or more. This will allow the beets to soak up the flavor of the dressing
• Gently toss the fennel and orange pieces in the remaining dressing. Remove beets from fridge and top with the fennel and orange mixture.
• Serve with chopped herbs, micro greens or goat cheese crumbles on top. Can be eaten as is or served over a bed of mixed greens.
Kayleigh Van Vliet Baig was born and raised in Riverhead, where she lives with her husband Tahir.
Kayleigh has been in the culinary industry for the last 12 years, working in kitchens on the East End. She also is a personal chef.
Got questions? Recipes? Ideas?
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Look for In the Kitchen with Kayleigh every Saturday on RiverheadLOCAL.com.
