Brighten up the day with this colorful beet salad featuring sliced beets, navel oranges, red onions, arugula in a light vinaigrette.
Winter may be dreary, but it’s the best time of year for colorful citrus fruits and beets! This is a quick and easy salad that can brighten up any winter day with beets, orange slices, red onions, and arugula.
You can either roast or boil the beets. Roasting gives you more flavor, cooking takes less time and doesn’t use as much energy to cook the beets.
Orange and Beet Salad
ingredients
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1 bunch beets, leaves removed (save for beet greens!) – about 4 or 5 medium, scrubbed clean
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2 large navel oranges, remove the peel with a small small knife and cut into slices
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1 bunch arugula leaves, trimmed and removing any thick stems
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Several thin slices of red onion
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optionally 1/4 cup chopped walnuts
- Vinaigrette dressing:
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3 tablespoons white wine vinegar
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1/4 cup extra virgin olive oil
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1/4 teaspoon dried mustard
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salt and pepper to taste
method
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Boil beets:
You can either boil or roast the beets. To cook the beets, cover the unpeeled beets with water, bring to a boil and simmer for 30 minutes or until the beets are easily pierced with a fork.
If you prefer to roast the beets instead of cooking them, wrap the unpeeled beets in aluminum foil and bake in the oven at 200°F for an hour or until done. (See our Roasted Beets recipe.)
After cooking, allow the beets to come to room temperature and remove the peel. Cut or quarter them.
If you have time, place them in a small bowl and marinate in half the oil and vinegar dressing.
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Make the dressing:
While the beets are cooking, prepare the dressing by adding all of the dressing ingredients to a jar. Seal and shake until the dressing is well mixed.
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Assemble the salad:
Assemble individual salad plates with arugula, a few slices of orange, a few beets, a few slices of red onion, and a few chopped walnuts.
If you want a little more color, gently toss a few slices of orange into the beet juice from your bowl of beets. Allow the oranges to absorb the beet color and use them in your salad.
Drizzle dressing over each salad.
Links:
How to cut an orange – useful tip with photos by Helen at Beyond Salmon.
