Gluten Freebird

Due to a devastating salad bar incident in early childhood, I never liked beets. (They are easily mistaken for cranberry sauce in big salad bar tubs. It makes for a NASTY surprise, Internet.)

For a palate that tolerates leafy greens, mystery meats, and everything in between, beets stood alone as an outcast.

That all changed recently — thanks to a delicious preparation at the Oval Room — and now I can’t get enough of them. I actually plan dinners around restaurants that offer beets.

Sadly, bleu cheese, beet’s BFF, is off-limits to the gluten-free crowd. It’s not always banned, but most cheeses use bread to start the molding process, so it’s best to avoid unless you’re certain that it’s gluten-free. The best way to get around this wicked conundrum is to make my own beets, right?

So, I bought fixings for my own Goat Cheese and Roasted Beet Salad at the Dupont FreshFarm market yesterday. I swiped beets and arugula from the lettuce people (the ones who offer huge tubs of mesclun and pea tendrils) and grabbed a log of Firefly Farms’ Bûche Noire, a delicious crumbly ashy goat cheese.

Throw in orange-garlicky vinaigrette, walnuts, radishes, sprouts, and cucumbers to get yourself my winning dinner salad.

Roasted Beets and Goat Cheese with Orange Vinaigrette

For the salad:
4 beets
¼ cup goat cheese
¼ lb arugula
6 radishes, halved
1 cucumber, sliced
Walnut pieces, for sprinkling

For the vinaigrette:
¼ cup White wine vinegar
3 tbs olive oil
½ orange, juice only
1 clove garlic, minced
Salt
Pepper

Preheat Oven to 425

Wash and peel beets, then wrap together in aluminum foil and roast 60-90 minutes until fork-tender.

Meanwhile, prepare the salad. (Obviously, you can tailor the salad with tomatoes, onions, carrots, celery or whatever else appeals or is in season.)

When the beets have cooled to the touch, slice cross-wise. Arrange on the plate, alternating with pieces of goat cheese. Top with crushed walnuts.

Add salad mix to the center of each plate.

Mix vinaigrette ingredients and add to each plate.