Lidia`s roasted beet and beet greens salad with apple - KCTV5

A chef from Lidia's Italy, located at 101 West 22nd St. in Kansas City, MO, stops by KCTV5 News at 4 p.m. While showing off one of their delicious dishes, they also talked about the fourth annual Hen House Holiday Celebration on Nov. 2, 3 and 4 at the Overland Park Convention Center.

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This beautiful salad really depends on good ingredients: small firm beets with fresh unblemished greens still attached; a crisp tart apple or ripe fresh peaches or Black Mission figs; and aged goat cheese with a crumbly consistency. Roasting the beets to intensify the sweetness is also a key to the best salad.

Serves six.

Ingredients:

12 small yellow and red beets with greens attached, about 3 pounds total
½ teaspoon salt
¨÷ cup extra-virgin olive oil
¨÷ cup balsamic vinegar
freshly ground pepper, to taste
1 medium Granny Smith apple
4 ounces slightly aged goat cheese

Directions:

Preheat the oven to 400 degrees.

Slice the greens off right at the top of the beets, then scrub the beets and poke each of them with a fork a few times. Put them all in a shallow baking dish, uncovered, with a 1/8-inch of water covering the bottom. Place the dish in the oven, uncovered. Roast the beets - the water will actually steam them a bit first - until they are shriveled, dark and caramelized outside and tender all the way through (when poked with a knife), 45 minutes to one-and-a-half hours, depending on size. Let them cool.

Meanwhile, rinse the beet greens well, trim the tough parts of the stems, and cut the usable stem pieces from the leaves. Bring a big pan of water to boil, drop in the stems, cook for about 10 minutes, then add the leaves. Cook for 20 minutes more or until the stems are quite soft. Drain in a sieve; sprinkle 1/4 teaspoon of salt over the hot greens, and let them cool.

Peel the beets well, removing all the skin, the stem base and root tip, exposing the gleaming flesh. Cut in wedges and place in a big mixing bowl. Cut the greens (both leaves and stems) in 2-inch lengths and toss with the beet wedges.

Whisk together the oil and vinegar, with another 1/4 teaspoon salt and grinds of pepper. Drizzle the dressing over the beets and toss.

Cut the apple in half, remove the core, then slice the apple halves into thin matchstick pieces. Arrange the dressed beets on a serving platter or portion on salad plates; fold in the apple pieces, then crumble goat cheese on top just before serving.

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