Recipe: Roasted Beet, Fennel, Pear, Orange, and Walnut Salad


Delicious, hearty, and healthy. A burst of color on the winter table. You can roast the beets and fennel several days ahead for this delicious salad. The beets turn everything a freakish shade of pink so I find it best to dress them separately from the rest of the salad, lay them on top, and only stir them into the salad when serving.

Prep Time: 25 minutes
Cook time: 1 hour or more to roast the beets; roast fennel while roasting beets
Total time: 1 hour, 25 minutes
Serves: 4 as a main course for lunch; more with other things

Ingredients:
3 large beets
2 bulbs fennel, fronds removed and chopped roughly
2 pears (any kind)
2 oranges or clementines, sectioned, pith removed if desired
2-3 handfuls walnut halves, toasted if desired
1 handful mint, chopped roughly
2 lemons, juiced + zest of 1 lemon
1/2-1 C olive oil
1 clove garlic, peeled
additional olive oil
salt and black pepper

1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees.
2. Remove leaves from beets, leaving a few inches of stems. Rinse the beets, and while still wet, wrap them individually in foil, or place them together in a covered pan. Roast in 400 degree oven for about 1 hour until tender. (I learned this technique from Mark Bittman, who learned it from the great Jean-Geoerges Vongerichten) (You can refrigerate the beets, still wrapped, for about a week).
3. Meanwhile, remove the outer layer from the fennel and cut into small spears. Put in pan, drizzle with olive oil, sprinkle with salt, and roast alongside the beets for 20-25 minutes, or until beginning to caramelize (brown).
4. Make the vinaigrette. Combine the lemon juice, lemon zest, 1/2-1 C olive oil, 1 clove garlic, pinch of salt, and pepper to taste in a small blender or food processor until emulsified.
5. After the beets have cooled, peel them. The skin will slide right off. (Bittman says if you use paper towels you won’t stain your fingers, but I haven’t figured out how to get away without beet on my hands).
6. Cut the beets into quarters, then into slices. Place in a bowl. Dress with 1/2 vinaigrette.
7. In another large bowl, toss together the roasted fennel, pears and oranges. Dress with 1/2 the vinaigrette. Toss with walnuts, mint, and (some) fennel fronds.
8. Lay the beets gently on top of the salad mixture, garnish with mint and fennel fronds, and serve.

Menu: Chicken with Coriander and Fennel, Roasted Cauliflower, Baked Sweet Potatoes with Lime, and Salad with Roasted Fennel, Oranges, and Mint

Serves: 4
Prep Time: 25 Minutes
Total Time: 1 Hour; or make sweet potatoes ahead and make everything else in 1/2 hour on day of meal
Make ahead: Chicken, sweet potatoes, cauliflower, and fennel can be made ahead. Salad can be tossed quickly on day of meal.
Special equipment needed: 2 ovens, or 1 oven and 1 toaster oven for the chicken

Ingredients:
1-2 heads cauliflower
4 sweet potatoes
1-2 bulbs fennel
2 oranges
Ingredients for Chicken (or other protein) with Coriander and Fennel (recipe below)
lime wedges
extra-virgin olive oil
balsalmic vinegar
handful of mint leaves, coarsely chopped
sea salt

1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees and another (toaster oven?) to 350 degrees
2. Scrub sweet potatoes, pat dry, and prick each several times with fork. Place in a baking pan lined with foil and roast for 1 hour, or until tender when pricked with fork. Serve with lime wedges.
3. Remove leaves and base from cauliflower. Rinse and pat dry. Drizzle with 1-2T olive oil and roast in oven with sweet potatoes for 25-30 minutes or until lightly browned.
4. Remove fennel stalks and reserve for garnish. Cut fennel into 1/4″ slices and drizzle with 1T olive oil. Roast in oven with other veggies for 20-25 minutes or until lightly browned.
5. Prepare chicken according to recipe below.
6. Zest orange(s) and reserve zest for garnishing chicken (optional)
7. Slice down sides of oranges and then carve oranges away from inner core to remove the bitter white pith and seeds. (Alternatively, just section oranges) Toss with roasted fennel and mint and reserved chopped feathery fennel fronds. Splash with balsamic vinegar to taste. Serve alone or on a bed of greens.

Menu: Chicken with Coriander and Fennel, Roasted Cauliflower, Baked Sweet Potatoes with Lime, and Salad with Roasted Fennel, Oranges, and Mint

Serves: 4
Prep Time: 25 Minutes
Total Time: 1 Hour; or make sweet potatoes ahead and make everything else in 1/2 hour on day of meal
Make ahead: Chicken, sweet potatoes, cauliflower, and fennel can be made ahead. Salad can be tossed quickly on day of meal.
Special equipment needed: 2 ovens, or 1 oven and 1 toaster oven for the chicken

Ingredients:
1-2 heads cauliflower
4 sweet potatoes
1-2 bulbs fennel
2 oranges
Ingredients for Chicken (or other protein) with Coriander and Fennel (recipe below)
lime wedges
extra-virgin olive oil
balsalmic vinegar
handful of mint leaves, coarsely chopped
sea salt

1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees and another (toaster oven?) to 350 degrees
2. Scrub sweet potatoes, pat dry, and prick each several times with fork. Place in a baking pan lined with foil and roast for 1 hour, or until tender when pricked with fork. Serve with lime wedges.
3. Remove leaves and base from cauliflower. Rinse and pat dry. Drizzle with 1-2T olive oil and roast in oven with sweet potatoes for 25-30 minutes or until lightly browned.
4. Remove fennel stalks and reserve for garnish. Cut fennel into 1/4″ slices and drizzle with 1T olive oil. Roast in oven with other veggies for 20-25 minutes or until lightly browned.
5. Prepare chicken according to recipe below.
6. Zest orange(s) and reserve zest for garnishing chicken (optional)
7. Slice down sides of oranges and then carve oranges away from inner core to remove the bitter white pith and seeds. (Alternatively, just section oranges) Toss with roasted fennel and mint and reserved chopped feathery fennel fronds. Splash with balsamic vinegar to taste. Serve alone or on a bed of greens.