I’m a sucker for fresh beets at the farmers’ market.
At my farmers’ market, the vendors spray water on the beets to make their reds and oranges pop. Catches my attention (and triggers my taste buds) every time!
The beets we eat today are believed to have originated in ancient times as sea beets, a seashore plant grown around the Mediterranean. In that iteration, they were mostly consumed as leaves. They were also used as dyes, teas, and medicines. Beets were found preserved in the ash of the 79 A.D. eruption of Mt. Vesuvius. How interesting is that!
Over the centuries, beets were increasingly cultivated for their large bulbs (in addition to their delicious greens). Beets we would recognize were widely consumed in Europe and Asia by the 16th Century.
This recipe is from Alison Roman’s cookbook Something From Nothing. You can order the cookbooks through your local bookstore or on Amazon here.
Here is the recipe as I prepared it in my kitchen. It is delicious served at room temperature. You will enjoy all the textures in this beautiful dish and the interesting contrast provided by the creamy tahini dressing and the sweetness of the apple slices.
By the way, we have featured a number of tasty beet recipes over the years here on Blue Cayenne. Try our Smashed and Seared Beets, Persian Lentil and Beet Soup and our Beet, Walnut and Arugula Salad.
Beets With Celery, Apple and Tahini
Ingredients
- 1 pound beets (cleaned, unpeeled)
- 3 T. white distilled vinegar
- Olive oil
- Kosher salt
- Freshly-ground black pepper
- 4 celery stalks with leaves (sliced thin)
- 1 large apple (unpeeled, cored and sliced thick)
- 1 small shallot (sliced thin)
- 1/2 C. tahini
- 1/2 C. walnuts (roasted and chopped)
Directions
- Step 1 Preheat oven to 400 degrees F.
- Step 2 Clean beets and slice off tops. (I used a combination of red beets and golden beets for this salad.)Arrange on a metal baking sheet. Drizzle some olive oil over the beets and sprinkle with salt and freshly-gound black pepper. Cover the beets (and pan) with foil and bake the beets for about an hour until they are tender. Remove from oven and let the beets cool for a few minutes. When the beets are cool enough to handle, remove the skins from the beets. Quarter the peeled beets.
- Step 3 Place the beets, celery (reserving the celery leaves to use as a garnish on the finished salad) , apple, shallot and 2 T. of vinegar in a large bowl. Season with salt and pepper and mix. Drizzle some olive oil over the mixture. Set aside.
- Step 4 Roast and coarsely chop walnuts. Set aside.
- Step 5 Make tahini dressing. Put tahini in a small bowl and add 1 T. water and 1 T. vinegar. Mix. Stir in another tablespoon of water and then add another. Stir until your tahini is pourable. Season tahini with salt and pepper.
- Step 6 When you are ready to serve your salad, spoon the tahini on a large serving plate. Arrange the beet, celery, apple mixture on top of the tahini. Sprinkle on celery leaves. Sprinkle on chopped, roasted walnuts. Drizzle with a really good olive oil. Serve.
