I usually make this citrus and beet appetizer salad for a special occasion as it looks so festive. It would be ideal as a Christmas or a Valentine’s dinner appetizer. It’s an easy ‘make ahead’ dish and improves with a couple of hours in the fridge before serving.
Tip : If you can't find blood oranges, substitute navel oranges...the beet juice will color the oranges a bright red.
Ingredients
- 4 med beets
- 2 large blood oranges or navel oranges and accumulated juices
- 1 cup pomegranate seeds
- 2 tbsp oil
- 1/2 cup beet juice from roasting beets or juice from pickled beets
- 1-2 medium shallots thinly sliced
- 2 tbsp sherry vinegar
- 1-2 tbsp honey
Instructions
- Gather all ingredients before starting recipe.
- Pre heat oven o 375°
Beets
- Wash and trim beets and place in an oven proof dish (I use an aluminum tin) and add a quarter cup of water to the bottom of the pan, then cover tightly with aluminum foil and bake for 45 minutes to an hour. Check after 30 minutes by inserting a sharp knife into one of the beets to see if they are done.
- Allow to cool to room temperature, then using a knife, scrape the skin off and set aside until ready to slice for the salad.
Oranges
- Cut the ends off the oranges, then remove the rind, including any white pith, and slice the oranges. Keep all the juices.
- If using navel oranges, slice the beets and layer the oranges in between the beet slices to allow the color to soak into the oranges. Add the accumulated beet juice, or pour a bit of pickled beet juice over the slices.
Dressing
- Drain juices from sliced beets/oranges, you should have a half a cup or more, combine juices with the oil, sherry vinegar and honey, a pinch of salt. Shake to combine and adjust for taste, if needed.
- Slice one or 2 shallots into thin slices and add to the dressing, set aside.
Assembly
- Serve beets on a dinner plate and arrange slices of beets (4 or 5 per serving) in the center, slightly overlapping, then arrange the beet red orange slices on top of the beets. Sprinkle with pomegranate seeds. At this point, the salads may be placed in the fridge until ready to serve.
Final Step
- Using a fork, remove a few slivers of shallots and sprinkle over the salad on each plate. Finally, drizzle dressing over the top and serve.
Author Notes
Some grocery stores sell packaged, cooked, whole beets. They are usually in the produce section. Look for these to eliminate the cooking/roasting segment of this recipe.