Salad of Candy-striped & Gold Beets, Heirloom Carrot, Breakfast Radish, Pumpernickel and Caraway Bread Crumbs, Apricot Bourbon Jam, Apple Cider Vinegar
This is a simple little salad I came up with using some familiar raw root vegetables. It's not very common to see beets being used in their natural raw state. They are almost always cooked first. This makes sense since it releases their sugars and softens them up. But don't shy away from eating them raw for a totally different experience and a much more intriguing presentation. The flavor leans more towards earthy with raw beets as opposed to the sweetness with cooked.
The beets, radishes and carrot were simply cut into the shapes you see above. The small dice or "brunoise" of the veggies were tossed in a vinaigrette of olive oil and apple cider vinegar and allowed to marinate while the rest of the dish came together.
I toasted some pumpernickel bread and caraway seeds for 10 minutes to completely dry out the bread. I pulsed them in a spice grinder to give a fine bread crumb which was spooned out in a semi-circle onto the plate. The veggies, along with the carrot, radish and beet tops, were arranged on top of the crumbs. The brunoise and vinaigrette was placed in the middle of the circle.
I spooned some of the apricot jam onto the plate to finish. I made the jam with apricots that I dehydrated over the summer. I combined them with cane vinegar, sugar, water, bourbon, cumin and curry powder and cooked them til they were soft and rehydrated. I blended the mix until smooth and chilled it.
Product:
Organic Candy-stripe and Gold Beets - Weaver's Way
Organic Heirloom Carrot - Root Mass Farm
Organic Breakfast Radish - Root Mass Farm
Pumpernickel Bread - Wild Flour Bakery
Apricots - Beechwood Orchards
Apple Cider Vinegar - Beechwood Orchards
The beets, radishes and carrot were simply cut into the shapes you see above. The small dice or "brunoise" of the veggies were tossed in a vinaigrette of olive oil and apple cider vinegar and allowed to marinate while the rest of the dish came together.
I toasted some pumpernickel bread and caraway seeds for 10 minutes to completely dry out the bread. I pulsed them in a spice grinder to give a fine bread crumb which was spooned out in a semi-circle onto the plate. The veggies, along with the carrot, radish and beet tops, were arranged on top of the crumbs. The brunoise and vinaigrette was placed in the middle of the circle.
I spooned some of the apricot jam onto the plate to finish. I made the jam with apricots that I dehydrated over the summer. I combined them with cane vinegar, sugar, water, bourbon, cumin and curry powder and cooked them til they were soft and rehydrated. I blended the mix until smooth and chilled it.
Product:
Organic Candy-stripe and Gold Beets - Weaver's Way
Organic Heirloom Carrot - Root Mass Farm
Organic Breakfast Radish - Root Mass Farm
Pumpernickel Bread - Wild Flour Bakery
Apricots - Beechwood Orchards
Apple Cider Vinegar - Beechwood Orchards