Like most kids, I abhorred beets. Occasionally my school would serve “Harvard beets” as a side dish with lunch. I resolved that if Harvard served those beets, I’d never attend it. (Never mind that Harvard’s undergraduate program was all-male at the time.) As years have passed, I’ve developed a more positive attitude toward beets, but not Harvard.
I had a hankering for beets the other day. Most of the time, beets sold in bulk are about the size of softballs and take forever to cook. However, I found some that were golf ball-size. I bought a handful of them. Sunday night I washed the beets and wrapped them in some heavy-duty foil, then put them in a 425° oven while Julian was making oven fries. Once the fries came out, I turned off the oven and let the residual heat finish off cooking the beets. I took the foil-wrapped package out of the oven and put it in the refrigerator. The following night I peeled and sliced the beets. I tossed them with some extra-virgin olive oil, balsamic vinegar, sliced scallions, salt, pepper, and a little dried thyme. It was served alongside some jerk chicken wings and rice. I had the leftovers with a few cherry tomatoes for lunch today.
The beauty of this salad is that it’s a blank canvas onto which you can add anything. Fresh herbs. Onion or garlic if you don’t have scallions. You can tweak the dressing (see my earlier post, Brewpub Beets). If you’re mixing yellow and red beets, roast them separately. If you’re adding feta or another cheese, do so just before serving. Maybe I should call this salad anywhere but Harvard beets.
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