SIDE DISH

BEET SALAD

Eric Gower's recipe calls for smoked trout. In my adaptation, I skip the fish, use pecans instead of walnuts, and add orange zest. Try to find beets with greens intact. This time of year you can substitute Swiss chard. If you don't like the look of the greens mixed with the beets, Eric suggests placing the leaves in the center of a large plate and surrounding them with the beets.

• 2 to 3 beets, with greens attached

• 3 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil

• 1 tablespoon minced ginger

• 2 tablespoons minced shallots

• 2 tablespoons rice vinegar

• 2 tablespoons orange juice

• 2 teaspoons grated orange zest

• Kosher salt and freshly ground pepper to taste

• 2 tablespoons chopped pecans

Fill a pot with enough water to submerge the beets and bring to a boil. Cut the stems and leaves from the beets and set aside. Place beets in the pot and simmer over medium-low heat until tender when pierced with a fork, about 40 minutes.

Meanwhile, heat 1 tablespoon olive oil in a small saucepan. Add ginger and shallots and sauté until soft, about 5 minutes.

Remove the cooked beets with a slotted spoon (leaving the cooking water in the pot), rinse under cold water and slip off the skins. Cut the beets into 1-inch pieces and place in a bowl. Add another tablespoon of the olive oil, 1 tablespoon of rice vinegar, the ginger-shallot mixture, the orange juice, orange zest and salt and pepper to taste and toss lightly.

Simmer the leaves in the hot red water for 3 minutes. Remove and rinse; squeezing as much water from the greens as possible. Chop the greens into inch-long pieces, drizzle on the remaining tablespoon of olive oil and tablespoon of the vinegar, and toss lightly.

Toast the pecans for a few minutes in a dry skillet. Right before serving, lightly mix together the beets and greens and top the salad with the pecans. Makes 4 servings.

Per serving: 140 calories, 13 g fat (2 g saturated), 0 cholesterol, 1 g protein, 5 g carbohydrate, 20 mg sodium, 1 g fiber.

Join the discussion

The Miami Herald is pleased to provide this opportunity to share information, experiences and observations about what's in the news. Some of the comments may be reprinted elsewhere in the site or in the newspaper. We encourage lively, open debate on the issues of the day, and ask that you refrain from profanity, hate speech, personal comments and remarks that are off point. In order to post comments, you must be a registered user of MiamiHerald.com. Your username will show along with the comments you post. Thank you for taking the time to offer your thoughts.

     Showing: Oldest first Newest first Most-recommended first Least-recommended first

@Nyx.AuthorDisplayName@ wrote on @Nyx.PostedAtTime@:

@Nyx.repliedToText@

@Nyx.replyAnswerText@

Reply to this Comment @Nyx.Recommender@ @Nyx.AbuseReporter@