Local Recipes | Spring Quarterly 2017
Beet and Watercress Salad
Let’s explore a vegetable that can be eaten from root to leaf, wasting nothing and gaining loads of nutrition and flavor: the mighty beet! When purchasing beets, choose them with the greens attached. Beet greens have been proven to have a higher iron content than spinach; eat them with the beet root and you are enjoying at least 4 grams of protein. Beet roots are an excellent source of fiber, vitamin C, magnesium and folate.
Now let’s add watercress, an aquatic perennial herb found in abundance alongside slow running water ways and nearby natural springs. Watercress has been proven to have more than 15 essential vitamins and minerals—more iron than spinach, more calcium than milk, and more vitamin C than oranges. Yes, please!
This local produce recipe combines red and golden beets and beet greens along with watercress. The combination of blanched beet greens and crisp watercress offers a sweet and spicy base for the roasted and raw beets. The dressing is a simple miso base; consider trying different miso pastes for different flavor combinations. Black sesame seeds are also a great alternative to the regular sesame seeds included in the recipe.
Ingredients
(4 servings)
4 small golden beets, scrubbed and peeled
2 small red beets, scrubbed
1 bunch watercress
1 bunch beet greens
3 Tablespoons olive oil, divided
½ teaspoon toasted sesame oil
¼ cup white miso paste
2 Tablespoons rice wine vinegar
2 Tablespoons sesame seeds
Kosher salt and black pepper
Directions
1. Preheat oven to 400 F
2. Prepare ice water bath
3. Set 4 cups of water to boil on stove top
4. Trim greens from beets, rinse well and set aside
5. Wash red beets, rub with 1 Tablespoon olive oil and
wrap in foil
6. Place wrapped beets on rimmed baking sheet and roast until tender, 30-40 minutes
7. While red beets roast, whisk together the white miso, vinegar, 2 Tablespoons olive oil, ½ teaspoon toasted sesame oil, and 3 Tablespoons water and set aside
8. Trim tough stalks away from beet greens; blanch greens in boiling water for 1 minute. Remove and toss in ice bath
9. Once red beets are tender, remove from oven and open foil to cool. The skin should peel away easily once cooled
10. Thinly slice golden beets and set aside
11. Drain cooled beet greens and dry well with a clean towel
12. Chop beet greens and toss with watercress and golden beets in a large salad bowl
13. Peel and slice red beets into wedges and add to salad
