This blood orange and roasted beet salad is complex in flavor with the sweetness of the beets providing a nice contrast with the tangy yogurt and sweet tart flavor of the blood oranges.
And we’re back for meatless Monday! We had planned on posting a recipe every Monday but it’s been challenging with our schedule, the baby’s unpredictable nap times or rather lack of naps, and the weather not cooperating. We’re aiming for every other Monday for the time being. Today I’m sharing a recipe for a blood orange and roasted beets salad with yogurt, mint, and hazelnut from Athena Calderone’s Cook Beautiful cookbook. The original recipe called for taragon but mine had wilted by the time I got around to making the recipe so I plucked some mint from my garden and threw it in the salad. The switch worked well and I will use mint again.
Cook Beautiful is one of my favorite cookbooks published this year besides The Lost Kitchen and the Book of Greens, all of which are James Beard Foundation book nominees. The recipes are divided by the season and the photography is absolutely stunning. Given my obsession with blood orange, it was a no brainer to try this recipe. The sweetness of the beets provided a nice contrast with the tangy yogurt and sweet tart flavor of the blood oranges. It tasted almost like a dessert but the olive oil and dressing tipped the scale right back to the savory side.
This blood orange and roasted beet salad is a breeze to throw together, and its complex flavor makes it a perfect complement to your heavier mains. I have made this salad a few times and can’t say I’m tired of it yet. With the first official day of spring arriving tomorrow, I’m going to share a few more citrus recipes before spring goes into full spring and citrus disappears from the farmers market.
If you want more salad inspiration, check out these recipes: burrata blood orange and fennel salad, seared scallops grapefruit and shaved fennel salad, watermelon radish carpaccio with arugula salad, and za’atar roasted radishes and lentil salad.
If you try this recipe, please let us know how you like it! Leave a comment, rate it, and don’t forget to tag a photo #beyondsweetandsavory on Instagram. We truly appreciate your feedback and incorporate them to continually improve our recipes.
This blood orange and roasted beet salad is adapted from Cook Beautiful by Athena Calderone
- 6 medium organic golden beets
- 2 tbsps extra-virgin olive oil, plus extra for drizzling
- salt and freshly cracked pepper
- 1/4 cup hazelnuts
- 4 blood oranges
- 1 small shallot, finely chopped
- 2 tbsps red wine vinegar
- 1 cup 2% Greek yogurt
- a few sprigs of mint leaves
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Preheat the oven to 425°F (220 ̊C)
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Place beets in the center of a large piece of foil. Drizzle them with oil and season with salt and pepper. Tightly seal the foil around the beets to make a packet. Place the packets on a rimmed baking sheet and roast until the beets are tender when pierced with a knife, about 45 minutes to 1 hour, depending on the size of your beets.
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Unwrap the beets and let them cool slightly. Remove the skin by peeling it off with your fingers or knife.
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While the beets are roasting, toast the hazelnuts on a rimmed baking sheet for 5 minutes, or until they’re golden and fragrant.
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Place the toasted nuts on a kitchen towel and rub them against one another to remove the skins then roughly chop the nuts.
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Cut a slice off the top and bottom of each orange so they have a flat bottom to sit on. Use a sharp knife to cut the peel and remove as much of the pith from the oranges as you can. Slice the oranges into ¼ inch rounds and use the tip of your knife to pick out any seeds. Set the cut orange slices aside on a prep plate.
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To make the dressing, squeeze the juice from half of an orange into a medium bowl. Add the shallot and vinegar. Whisk in the olive oil and season with salt and pepper to taste.
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Cut the beets into wedges and toss them with some of the dressing,
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Just before serving, divide the yogurt among the plates. Arrange the orange slices and beet wedges over the yogurt, spooning some of the dressing over the top. Sprinkle with the chopped hazelnuts and garnish with mint leaves.