Monday, March 31, 2008

Warm Beet, Bibb, and Bacon Salad

Beets were the star of dinner tonight! I have never, ever cooked beets from scratch... actually, I semi-panicked yesterday when I purchased them at the grocery store. I had no clue how to even begin preparing them for a meal. The beets that I ate as a kid always came from a can! 

Tonight's recipe was from a recent addition of Bon Appetite magazine. (I received a subscription as an engagement gift, but I have barely taken advantage of the wonderful and creative recipes. However, a couple of them will make their debut on the blog this week!) The Warm Beet, Bibb, and Bacon Salad came out excellent-- even Mal liked it! I pretty much followed the recipe, but I ended up doing a few things a little differently-- instead of bibb, I substituted romaine lettuce, and I sprinkled a bit of feta on top. The combination of beets, bacon, and feta was dynamic and very satisfying. The recipe says it makes 4-6 servings, but it ended up making just 3 for us-- one for Mal, one for me, and one for my lunch tomorrow. 

Warm Beet, Bibb, and Bacon Salad


Here are the raw beets, which needed to be scrubbed clean and then peeled. Peeling beets is a messy process! When I was finished peeling them, bright pink beet juice covered our cutting board, counter tops, and my fingers, which luckily cleaned right up. Despite the mess, I'm glad that I decided to give raw beets a try-- it was a fun way to enjoy new flavors and nutrients. 



The big salad from above...


For dessert, I enjoyed 2 Lindt chocolate truffles. Only one is pictured because I just went back for a second while mid-post. :)


My afternoon snack was a mug of peppermint tea and a piece of toast with peanut butter and banana slices. I loaded on the peanut butter, which definitely kept me satisfied for a few hours. 


6 Comments:

Unknown said...

Hi,

I love your blog and beets!
Next time you cook beets, there is an easier way. You can wash them and than leaving the skins on cut them in quarters (after you cut off the leaves)drizzle them with olive oil and salt and wrap them will foil and roast them at 375 or 400 for about 35 or 40 min, than you can just rub off the skin. They taste delicious this way hot or cooled down or heated up again.

Living to Feel Good said...

I wish I could get into beets! I want to like them I really do, but whenever I eat them about halfway through eating them I want to gag. :(
I made them the way the person above mention but I also added rosemary and pepper.
Never had canned beets before.

Anonymous said...

I love beets, but I've only ever had them cold, I'll have to try them cooked! Looks delicious (especially that feta on top)!

Anonymous said...

Well I love beets, but on a different subject...I made the best brownies last night. In fact made myself sick eating them while watching The Hills. Betty Crocker Low-fat Brownie Mix, 1/2 cup of canned pumpkin, 1/2 cup of applesauce, 1 tbsp of coffee and 2 tbsp of ground flax seed. Mix all up, pour into a greased 13x9 and bake. They were so fluffy and moist!

Anonymous said...

Simone,

Thank you for the tip! I was going to swear-off cooking beets, but your method makes it sound so much easier!

Carrie,

That recipe sounds delicious! Thanks for sharing! I'm so bummed that I missed the Hills last night! I can't believe that I forgot it was on!

RunEatRepeat said...

I'm scared of beets! I'm not ready for that yet, but your dinner looks good.