Beet Salad

The beet is a highly versatile vegetable.  They can be boiled, sauteed, roasted, pickled, eaten raw, made into soup or juiced and I have even substituted them for zucchini when making bread.  I like them all these ways.  Today I am featuring beets in the raw.

The most common color is a garnet red.  However, they can range in color from deep red to white.  The one I really think is intriguing is the concentric rings of red and white.  I have all of those and yellow in my salad and of course all are from my garden

The poor beet is so misunderstood.  People have a love or hate relationship with them.  It seems that relationship might have something to do with how you have had them prepared.  The taste is very different when they are raw to let's say boiled.  I think that is the key to a lot of food.  Bad experiences can set some people off of a food for life.  I always say "try it you might like it but how will you know if you don't try."

Be careful beets bleed.  The juice acts like a dye and everything it touches turns red.  Yes that is a unique trait of beets - one we all wish we had.  The ability to be so colorful.  Reminds me of a song I heard at a concert Monday night - You know the song "Colour My World" by the great band Chicago.  Talk about memories.  As airplanes were flying over our heads, Chicago was playing the song at sunset.  I was at EAA in Oshkosh, Wisconsin.  Wonderful.

Try the beet next time you are in a colorful mood, you might expand your food horizon and add some color to your soul.

Beet Salad

3-4 different colored beets, peeled, stems and root removed, sliced thin on mandoline
1/2 to whole lemon juiced
Handful of cilantro, chopped
12 cherries pitted and chopped
1 Tbsp olive oil
Salt and pepper to taste

Just combine all the ingredients and adjust the lemon and olive oil to your taste.  How easy.