Lunch: Roasted Beet and Goat Cheese Salad

In keeping with my newfound desire to add some new recipes to my repertoire, I came across this salad recipe in the July 2010 issue of Self and decided to give it a try. I am a huge fan of beets, although I don't eat them very often, but after a delicious meal my friend Maya prepared when I was visiting Minneapolis a few weeks back that included a beet and Swiss Chard stir fry and a raisin-infused quinoa, I vowed I would do something again with the mighty beet before the month of September was up.

So here I am, in my kitchen, with beets roasting in the oven and some chicken thighs simmering on the stove. As I was preparing the beets for their roasting, I couldn't bear to part with the beautiful greens and quickly Googled to see if they're edible (they are) and what I could do with them. I found a recipe on one of my favourite sites, Simply Recipes, and decided to give a whirl. I bought 4 chicken thighs yesterday for $1.93 and thought I'd omit the bacon fat from the recipe and just use a leftover teaspoon or so to prepare the beet recipe. The chicken is simmering -- bone in, fat off -- in a half tablespoon of olive oil, prepared using juice from half a lemon, some Mrs. Dash's seasoning, a bit of salt and pepper, and a bit of ground thyme.

Roasted Beet and Goat Cheese Salad
(adapted from Self magazine, July 2010)

16 oz (about 4) medium golden and/or red beets (I opted for red)
2 cups arugula (I have red leaf lettuce on hand, so that's what I'll be using)
2 medium vine-ripened tomatoes (I have cherry tomatoes on hand)
1 fennel bulb, trimmed and thinly shaved
2 oz goat cheese, crumbled

The dressing called for in the recipe calls for grapeseed oil, which I don't have, plus sherry vinegar, honey, Dijon mustard and dark sesame oil. I made a dressing with 1 tbsp red wine vinegar, 1 tbsp olive oil, 1 tsp Dijon mustard and a 1 tsp honey, and used about 2 tsp on the portion of the salad I made. (I created a 'base' of tomato, fennel and beets, which I divided into 4 portions, 3 of which are now in the fridge, which I'll combine with the cheese, lettuce and dressing when I eat it next.)

Beet Greens
(adapted from Simply Recipes's Beet Greens recipe)

1/2 pound beet greens (I used the tops from a bunch of beets, it was probably a little less than 1/2 pound)
1/4 onion, finely diced
1 small garlic clove, minced
1/4 cup of water
1/2 tbsp granulated sugar
dash of crushed red pepper flakes
1 - 2 tsp apple cider vinegar

Wash the greens in a sink filled with cold water. Drain greens and wash a second time. Drain greens and cut away any heavy stems. Cut leaves into bite-sized pieces. Set aside. I used a small amount of the fat remaining from cooking the chicken in olive oil. Add onions, cook over medium heat 5 to 7 minutes, stirring occassionally, until onions soften and start to brown. Stir in garlic. Add water to the hot pan, stirring to loosen any particles from bottom of pan. Stir in sugar and red pepper. Bring mixture to a boil. Add the beet greens, gently toss in the onion mixture so the greens are well coated. Reduce heat to low, cover and simmer for 5-15 minutes until the greens are tender. Stir in vinegar, and serve.