Beet Salad with Garlic-Walnut Sauce

Thanks to my newfound food-related infatuation with Mark Bittman, I not only have his books but his section of the New York Times is feeding (pun!) my google reader. I'm also a subscriber to his video podcast The Minimalist.

This recipe helped my fear of beets dissipate a wee bit.

Beet Salad with Garlic-Walnut Sauce

what you'll need:

3-5 beets (depending on size, of course. i ate 3 beets in one sitting and had a lot of sauce left.)
1/2 c. olive oil
6-8 cloves garlic
1/2 c. walnuts
pinch of salt
fresh orange juice
parsley (optional. mostly for aesthetics.)

wash beets and wrap each individually in aluminum foil. (trim greens if necessary) bake at 400 for about 1 hour. test with a knife like you would a potato for doneness. take out of oven and let cool enough to handle. using your hands, peel off the skin.

heat the olive oil.
add cloves of garlic.
add walnuts when garlic begins to turn golden brown.
when garlic and walnuts are all golden brown and basically the same color, take off of heat.

when it's cooled slightly, put garlic/walnuts/oil in food processor. add a pinch of salt and a slosh of fresh orange juice. blend up until it reaches a salad dressing type consistency. (adding more oj if necessary.) walnuts should still be good-sized chunks.

chop up beets into bite-sized pieces. throw in a bowl and pour the garlic-walnut sauce over the top. add parsley if you want.

this is all explained and demonstrated in The Minimalist video.

my favorite part is when he says off-handedly - there's nothing more beautiful than garlic bubbling in oil.

The Minimalist Video