Beet and Apple Salad with Horseradish Vinaigrette
Ingredients
Vinaigrette
1 tablespoon mustard, grown or grainy
2 tablespoons prepared horseradish
1/4 cup raspberry vinegar
3/4 cup olive oil
salt and black pepper to taste
salad
1 pound beets, mixed red and golden if available
1/4 cu green onions, white parts only, minced
1 tablespoon chives, minced
2 tablespoons flat-leaf parsley, chopped
2 apples, sweet or tart julienned
1/2 cup celery hearts, sliced 1/4 inch thick
1 teaspoon lemon juice
3 cups escarole leaves or mixture of escarole, curly endive, romaine hearts, and radicchio, cleaned, washed, dried
Directions
Critique
Chef: the "cobb salad" style looks nice. Nice dressing-flavors stand out. Cuts nicely done and it's good that the golden beets were processed separately because they stand out (no red color leak). The golden beets were underdone. The leaves were nicely dressed, but there were brown spots on edges, could have pulled them off or found better leaves.
Personal/Team: It took a long time to roast beets, but golden beets still weren't done when we plated. The look of the salad was nice and colorful and the apples and beets stood out and were easy to identify in the salad. Personally, I can't handle the horseradish flavor so the dressing didn't work for me. The cuts were nice and overall appearance of the salad was good.
Lessons Learned: take the time to roast beets all the way, if they are too firm, they just aren't appetizing. Salads always need to feature the "star" ingredients. If you have a beet salad, should have a lot of beets and less green leaves. the greens should always be dressed and have a shine to them, but not be overdressed and soggy
Vinaigrette
1 tablespoon mustard, grown or grainy
2 tablespoons prepared horseradish
1/4 cup raspberry vinegar
3/4 cup olive oil
salt and black pepper to taste
salad
1 pound beets, mixed red and golden if available
1/4 cu green onions, white parts only, minced
1 tablespoon chives, minced
2 tablespoons flat-leaf parsley, chopped
2 apples, sweet or tart julienned
1/2 cup celery hearts, sliced 1/4 inch thick
1 teaspoon lemon juice
3 cups escarole leaves or mixture of escarole, curly endive, romaine hearts, and radicchio, cleaned, washed, dried
Directions
- Preheat the oven to 400F.
- In a food processor, combine all the ingredients for the vinaigrette except the oil. Slowly add the oil until emulsified. Adjust the seasoning with salt and pepper.
- Leaving the roots and 1 inch of stem on the beets, rinse them. Bake with 1/4 inch water, covered, 25-40 minutes or until beets can be easily pierced with a knife. Cool.
- When the beets are cool enough to handle, peel and julienne.
- Toss the beets with 2 tablespoons vinaigrette and half the green onions.
- Combine the chives, parsley, and apples with the celery and remaining green onions . Toss with 2 tablespoons vinaigrette.
- Dress the escarole leaves and dress with remaining vinaigrette
- Place the escarole leaves on a chilled plate. Place a serving of beets on top of the escarole, with the celery and apples scattered over and around.
Critique
Chef: the "cobb salad" style looks nice. Nice dressing-flavors stand out. Cuts nicely done and it's good that the golden beets were processed separately because they stand out (no red color leak). The golden beets were underdone. The leaves were nicely dressed, but there were brown spots on edges, could have pulled them off or found better leaves.
Personal/Team: It took a long time to roast beets, but golden beets still weren't done when we plated. The look of the salad was nice and colorful and the apples and beets stood out and were easy to identify in the salad. Personally, I can't handle the horseradish flavor so the dressing didn't work for me. The cuts were nice and overall appearance of the salad was good.
Lessons Learned: take the time to roast beets all the way, if they are too firm, they just aren't appetizing. Salads always need to feature the "star" ingredients. If you have a beet salad, should have a lot of beets and less green leaves. the greens should always be dressed and have a shine to them, but not be overdressed and soggy
