Roasted Beet and Orange Salad

Ohhh, no matter what variation of a Beet Salad I make, I always love it!
This might be the first time I've paired orange and beet, and definitely the first for the greens I used.

Cover the bottom of a glass pan with EVOO. Scrub and dry your beets with a paper towel. Don't peel them - root vegetables absorb so many great nutrients through the skin, so don't lose those. Cut them in similar size pieces and put them cut side down in the pan.

Brush the outsides with the oil from the pan and season with garlic salt, black and cayenne pepper. Roast in a preheated 375° oven about a half hour or until a fork inserted comes out easily.

While that's happening, make a bed of baby arugula and microgreens in a big salad bowl. Today I used red cabbage, kale and basil microgreens. Add sliced Vidalia onion, zest and segments of a Caracara orange, a big handful of sprouted pumpkin seeds and some sharp cheese (crumbled feta, blue cheese or shredded parmesan-romano work best). 

When the beets are done, cool just enough to touch and cut into chunks. Toss all this together and drizzle with raspberry vinaigrette dressing. Don't make this one ahead of time.

It's better made-and-served right away. . .And then it will be
Perfect. . .and. . .DE-licious! . .Lin

Roasted Beet Soup

1# sm. beets
2T coconut oil
salt and pepper
6 unpeeled garlic cloves (not shown)

20-24oz. coconut milk from a carton
1T organic local honey
1t-1T pumpkin pie spice

Scrub the beets well. Cut off the tops, tails and any bad spots, but don't peel them. Chop-slice them into 1" pieces into a glass loaf pan. Roast at 375° for 45-60 minutes. After 15 minutes, add the garlic cloves, flip everything around in the pan with a wooden spoon, to coat with the oil and seasonings.

After roasting, when cool enough to touch, peel the garlic and put it back in the pan with the beets. Pour the next group of ingredients over everything. Stir to combine everything then pour it all into a blender. Blend until smooth. -OR- scoop out all the solids into a food processor. Add all the liquid, a little at a time, and process only until the texture is the way you like it. Blending creates a very smooth soup. The food processor would leave more texture.

For toppings, I added a dollop of sour cream and a sprinkle of dry dill.  Sunflower seeds, pine nuts, or pumpkin seeds and croutons would also be good. . . 😉 Lin

(to avoid a real scare in the bathroom, be advised - this color will go right through you within the next day or two 😳 when it happens, remember, it's due to a colorful beta carotene type substance in beets called betanin, NOT blood and it's healthy, not harmful)