This recipe is as open-ended as a jazz score. Try using golden beets instead of red ones. Roast the beets or steam them. Use blood oranges instead of, or in addition to, navels, or mix in some grapefruit sections. Instead of the goat cheese, you can substitute ricotta salata. The dish is also nice with a few black olives tossed in.
To roast the beets, cut them back to about an inch of the stems, wrap them in aluminum foil and bake them at 400 degrees until they are tender when pierced with a knife, about 50 minutes. Alternatively, you can steam the beets, which will take only about 25 minutes. Once the beets are cooked, the skins will slip right off.
6 SERVINGS
1 |
pound cooked beets (see headnote) |
|
Pinch powdered oregano |
|
Salt and freshly ground pepper |
2 |
tablespoons olive oil, plus more for drizzling |
1 |
teaspoon sherry vinegar |
¾ |
cup walnut halves 6 navel oranges |
1 |
½-pound log fresh goat cheese |
2 |
tablespoons chopped fresh parsley leaves |
Heat the oven to 450 degrees. Slice the beets about ¼ inch thick and place them in a bowl. Season with the oregano and with salt and pepper to taste. Add the olive oil and sherry vinegar and stir to mix well. Set aside.
Place the walnut halves in a dry baking pan and toast in the oven, stirring occasionally, until they smell toasty and nutty, about 5 minutes. Chop coarsely, cutting each half into 3 or 4 pieces. Set aside.
Peel the oranges. Cut off the top and bottom to expose the flesh. With a thin, sharp knife, slice away a vertical section of the skin, following the shape of the orange. Make a second cut, following the line of exposed flesh created by the first. Repeat all the way around the orange until all of the skin has been removed. Carefully go back over the orange, cutting away any small pieces of pith that remain. Slice the oranges ¼ inch thick and arrange them in a low mound on a platter.
Spoon the beets in a low mound in the center of the oranges, leaving the oranges exposed along the edge.
Slice the goat cheese into thin disks (as thinly as you can and still have them retain their shape). Scatter the disks over the beets. Season with a little more pepper and lightly drizzle with olive oil. Sprinkle the toasted walnuts and parsley on top and serve.