Golden Beets & Little Red Potatoes, Arugula Salad
Senses bursting on overload, I happened onto the ultimate perfect timing in a plethora of the freshest, most colorful displays of produce ever last week just following a meeting held at a market cafe table set on the patio outside. One of those warm, crystal clear, sunny fall days.
The bins were so bursting forth with selection that every time I ripped another sheet from the rolling plastic bag dispenser, I was back again having eyed another and another perfect choice, greens of every hue, shades of reds, tints of golden. When I say perfect choice however, it doesn’t mean I had any idea what I was planning to prepare, only certainty that many delicious dishes would shortly occur.
One of these prepared from among the day’s selections, Golden Beets & Little Red Potatoes, Arugula Salad.
Bounty always seems to inspire creativity making the combination of ingredients an easy task, but in this case, once shared, the question came to mind, is this Golden Beets & Little Red Potatoes, Arugula Salad best for a Dinner Party or a Tailgate? As it turned out everyone unanimously agreed: Both.
Today’s salad is a good example on how you can use lots of fresh vegetable combinations in salads, utilizing them for the elegant beginning of a dinner party among friends, or, simply preparing the ingredients separately, later tossing them all together just before presenting them as a healthy, appetizing side on the Tailgate table.
Really, it just goes to show you, no matter what the feature of your meal at the shared table, from a sautéed French style fresh fish in butter sauce to a grilled burger or a slab of ribs straight off the grill, a beautiful side dish bursting with color and flavor suits perfectly well on any special occasion from the Dinner Party to the Tailgate. Bon Appetit. Go Team.
Golden Beets & Little Red Potatoes, Arugula Salad
Ingredients
- For Preparing the Salad:
- 3-4 small golden beets
- 12 little red potatoes
- 3 scallions, green part included, chopped very, very finely
- 2 cups baby arugula
- For the Dressing:
- heaping 1/2 teaspoon Dijon mustard
- 3 tablespoons apple cider vinegar, such as Braggs pure, unfiltered
- 1 tablespoon maple syrup
- 1/3 cup olive oil
- couple grinds black pepper
- pinch of coarse kosher salt
Instructions
- Preparing the Salad: Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Cut off both ends of beets. Pour around one and a half inches of water into a smallish sized gratin dish, set beets in upright, cover with foil and place into oven. Cook beets for 35- 45 minutes or until beet is just fork tender all the way through. Remove from oven, drain liquid from dish, once beets have come to room temperature slip off the skin, cut into bite sized chunks similar size to baby potato halves
- While beets are cooking, rinse baby potatoes, place into a vegetable steamer, steam potatoes around 17 minutes or longer until just fork tender all the way through. Remove potatoes from steamer, cool to room temperature before cutting in half
- Preparing the Dressing: Whisk dressing ingredients together until emulsified
- Assembling the Salad: Place golden beets and potatoes into a large sized mixing bowl, sprinkle in scallions stirring throughout. Pour over the dressing stirring to coat vegetables well, tumble in the baby arugula and toss through. Spoon salad evenly over plates and serve straight away
- Golden Beets and Little Red Potatoes may be prepared in advance then tossed with scallions, dressing and arugula just before serving
8 Comments