Vegetables Recipes - Baby Beets with Roasted Shallot and Chili Dressing Recipe

Ingredients 

• 12 small yellow, white, pink, and red beets

• 4 small handfuls of young dandelion leaves, endive, or arugula

• sea salt flakes

• coarsely ground black pepper 

For the dressing:

• 2 banana shallots or 4 small ordinary shallots, unpeeled

• 2 New Mexican or Anaheim chilies

• 2 tablespoons lemon juice

• 8 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil

• salt and freshly ground black pepper

Serves 4

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Method:

1. Preheat the oven to 425°F. Trim all but 1/2 inch of stalk from the beets and any very long roots.

2. Plunge into boiling water, bring back to a boil and simmer briskly for about 30 minutes, until the beets are just tender. Drain and leave to cool a little.

3. While the beets are cooking, make the dressing: wrap each shallot in foil, place in a small roasting pan, and bake in the preheated oven for 15 minutes. Add the chilies and bake for another 10-15 minutes, until the shallots feel soft and the chilies blacken and blister.

4. Peel the shallots, roughly chop the flesh, and put in a blender. Remove the skin and seeds from the chilies.

5. Roughly chop the flesh of one of them and add this to the blender, together with the lemon juice, olive oil, and seasoning. Puree until thick and smooth, and set aside. Cut the remaining chili into very small neat squares.

6. When the beets are cool enough to handle, slip off their skins, leaving the stalk in place and  taking care not to damage the flesh. With a sharp knife, slice them in half lengthwise.

7. Arrange the salad leaves on a serving plate with the beets on tops. Sprinkle with the chopped chili, sea salt flakes, and a grinding of pepper. Spoon the dressing over and serve.

Note: Deliciously sweet and mellow, baby beets contrast well with slightly bitter leaves and a mildly fiery dressing. The beets should be no more than  1 1/2 inches in diameter. You can, of course, use the dark red type if you don't have other colors.