You Can't Beat These Beets



By their very nature, beets are not boring, but sometimes they're served in uninteresting ways.  Suzanne Landry is hoping to change that though.  Suzanne, who wrote, appropriately, the passionate vegetable, told Tonia's Kitchen about her Tangerine and Beet
salad.  She starts with roasted or boiled beets,  When preparing them, Suzanne says you shouldn't cut below the stem end, because doing that means flavor and nutrition fall right out.  She says after cooking the beets, place into cold water, and the peel will come right off.  Then, Suzanne says, toss those beets into olive oil to prevent bleeding, and combine them with sectioned tangerines.  Toss it all together in Feta Cheese and fresh mint and serve.  Not boring!

3 beets, cooked, peeled and cubed
3 seedless tangerines, peeled, and sectioned
½ cup feta cheese, crumbled

Dressing:
1/3   cup olive oil
2       Tbs  balsamic vinegar
1        Tbs minced fresh mint

1. If using fresh beets, scrub well but do not peel.  Cut stem off to within one inch of beet.  Immerse in water, cover and bring to a boil then reduce heat to medium.  Depending on the size of the beets, cooking will take about 30 minutes or longer. They are cooked when the beet feels tender when a fork is pushed into the center. Drain and cool. Remove skin and stem by rubbing off with your fingers under running water. Cut beets into ½-inch bite size pieces.
2. Peel tangerines and separate wedges.  Remove any white membrane. Either leave whole or cut in half.
3. This dressing will make more than you need for this salad. It’s a favorite in our house and I’m sure you’ll want to have extra. For this amount of salad, place ½ cup of finished dressing in a salad bowl.  Add cooked beets and tangerines and toss.  Sprinkle with feta cheese.