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Food

Salad with Baby Roasted Beets and Citrus

Serves 3 to 4

Written by
Salad with baby roasted beets and citrus

These recipe excerpts are from Cathy Katin-Grazzini’s new book, Love the Foods That Love the Planet. Reprinted with permission from Health Communications, Inc. Photography by Giordano Katin-Grazzini.

Ingredients

  • 8 baby red beets, peeled, roasted, cut in half or quartered into bite-sized pieces
  • 11 baby golden beets, peeled, roasted, cut in half or quartered into bite-sized pieces
  • 3 cups unsweetened cultured soy yogurt, 2 cups strained for the labneh, plus 1 cup for a dressing
  • 1/4 teaspoon granulated garlic
  • Several grinds or pinch of ground white pepper
  • 1 teaspoon Dijon mustard
  • 2 teaspoons shiro (mild, white) miso paste (optional)
  • 2 cups packed baby arugula
  • 1 red grapefruit, cut in sections
  • 2 red mandarin or blood oranges, cut in sections
  • 1 bunch mixed color or French breakfast radishes, roots trimmed, large or damaged leaves removed, sliced in half
  • 1 shallot, peeled and sliced
  • Several small sprigs fresh dill
  • 2 tablespoons pistachio nuts

Directions

01
Preheat the oven to 400°F. To roast the beets, place the peeled, halved beets in two parchment paper bags, one for the red beets, one for the golden. To make the parchment bag, tear off a large piece of parchment paper, fold it in half, place the beets cut side down and spaced 1/2 inch apart. Fold up the edges several times and staple them to seal. Place the bags on one or two cooking sheets and roast the beets for one hour.
02
To make the labneh cheese, pour 2 cups of the thick soy yogurt onto a 18-inch square of unbleached muslin. Gather up the sides and twist to form a sack, and tie with a piece of string. Suspend the yogurt bag over the sink or in a strainer, placed over a bowl. Strain the yogurt for 3 hours, during which time much of the soy whey will drip away, leaving a dense creamy cheese—and a natural probiotic if you make your own unpasteurized, cultured yogurt.
03
To make a dressing, if using, place 3 small roasted golden beets in a high-speed blender. Add 1 cup of soy yogurt, the granulated garlic, white pepper, Dijon mustard, and shiro miso, if using. Blend until the mix is velvety smooth and uniform. Taste and adjust seasonings as you like.
04
To compose the salad on individual plates, start with a base of arugula and any tiny raw beet leaves if your beets provide them. Place 3 to 4 pieces each of red and golden roasted beets over the greens. Between the beets alternate with sections of grapefruit and orange. Add 3 to 4 radish halves. Sprinkle slices of shallot here and there. Use a small espresso spoon or 1/2 teaspoon measuring spoon to dot the salad with the strained soy labneh. Lastly, add small sprigs of dill and sprinkle a few pistachios.
05
Serve at room temperature with or without the dressing, as you like.

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