Ensalada de Noche Buena
For the Roasted Heirloom Beets:
28 oz red beets
21 oz yellow baby beets
21 oz candied baby beets
1 cup white sugar
1/4 cup thyme
1 oz black pepper
1 3/4 cups olive oil
1 1/2 tbsp kosher salt
1/2 tsp black pepper
For the Vinaigrette:
2 cups fresh orange juice
1/3 cup extra virgin olive oil
2 tsp white balsamic vinegar
ó ea lemon zest
1/3 tsp kosher salt
To Make The Salad:
12.5 oz roasted heirloom beets SUB
1/2 cup orange vinaigrette SUB
1/4 cup candied peanuts or walnuts
1 1/2 tbsp shaved baby candied beets
1 1/2 tbsp shaved baby yellow beets
1/3 cups baby mandarin (thin slices)
1/4 cup green apple (fine julienne)
1/4 cup jicama (fine julienne)
1/2 cup baby gem lettuce
1/4 cup pomegranate seeds
1/2 tsp kosher salt
Prepare the beets:
Preheat the oven at 350°F. Wash the red beet, do not peel, cut the red beet into half, place the two halves over aluminum foil, season with olive oil, white sugar, kosher salt and thyme, wrap the red beet and set aside. On separate aluminum foil sheets, place the whole yellow baby beets and the whole baby candied beets on the aluminum foil (making sure they are separate – so you should have 3 foil packets total). Drizzle olive oil, white sugar, kosher salt and thyme over the beets, then wrap with the aluminum foil so they are covered completely. Add the wrapped beet packages onto a sheet pan and bake in the oven at 350°F for 60 minutes. Once the beets are cooked, removed from the oven, unwrap each beet. Let cool. When cool, place beets on cutting board & pour the remaining olive oil and beet juice from the foil into a bowl & reserve for later.
Peel and dice the red beets. Add the diced beets into a bowl and toss with olive oil and kosher salt and store in the refrigerator. Do not peel the yellow and candy beets, but cut into wedges. Align the beets on a sheet pan and keep separate, store in the refrigerator.
Make the vinaigrette:
In a pot, add the orange juice bring to boil and then keep it simmering until reduce 80% of the amount, you will obtain about 2/5 cup of reduced orange juice, set aside & let cool. Once the orange juice is cool, combine all the vinaigrette ingredients in a bowl and use a spoon to mix (do not use a whisk we don’t want to emulsify), store in refrigerator.
To Assemble:
In 2 separate mixing bowls, toss the baby gem lettuce along with the orange vinaigrette, lemon zest and kosher salt; in the other mixing bowl toss the jicama and green apple with the orange vinaigrette. Place the baby gems leaves on the plate adding the different beets around the lettuce in alternating colors. Add the jicama and green apple on top of the baby gem lettuce; add the mandarin slices around the plate. Sprinkle the pomegranate, candied peanuts or walnuts around the salad and drizzle the orange vinaigrette to finish, if more is desired.