My Pantry Shelf

This has been a cleansing week.  No work for me and no school for the kids means that we had a lot (too much?) time around the house.  Complications outside our control kept us from adventuring in the way we might otherwise.  The upside is that the floors are swept, the drawers organized, and the piles of recipes are neatly filed away.  This house is clean. Most importantly, the last of the holiday cookies and sweets have happily made their way (on way or another) into a better place, out of my reach.  I mean, who really wants to be looking at a cookie on January 5th?  Not me.

Though I am not swearing on to a year of clean eating, or anything as drastically healthy as that, I do find that the foods I crave are those which lack the butter, bacon, and sugar indulgences of the holidays.  This recipe I share with you today is probably the complete opposite of the holiday foods which filled my gut (and yours?) the last couple of months.  Fresh, mostly raw, brightly colored, acidic.  This salad is exactly what I want to eat right now (which works out well since our Satsuma tree is going gangbusters and someone has to eat all that fruit!)

Orange and Beet Winter Salad pairs bright juicy orange with paper thin slices of roasted beet, creamy avocado, and crunchy toasted sunflower seeds.  The greens are an accent instead of the foundation of this dish.  Eat this now and enjoy it, I know I am.

Orange and Beet Winter Salad

serves 2

6 roasted beet slices- 1/8 inch thick or thinner

1 tablespoon toasted sunflower seeds

1/3 cup orange segments (I used two Satsuma mandarins)

1/2 avocado, pit and peel removed, sliced thin

1 cup mixed greens

roast beets

Cut stem and root from the beet.  Rub with olive oil.  Bake beet at 400 for 45 minutes to one hour.  For this recipe it is best if the beet is slightly softened, but still firm. They are much easier to slice this way and provide a toothsome bite in the salad.

toast sunflower seeds

Place sunflower seeds in a dry pan over medium heat.  Stir frequently until the seeds begin to brown.  Remove from heat.

arrange the salad

Layer the greens, beets, and avocado in a serving dish or on individual plates.  Scatter sunflower seeds over the top.  Lightly dress the salad with Tangy Citrus Dressing.

Tangy Citrus Dressing

makes 1/4 cup

1 tablespoon satsuma juice (or another type of orange)

1 tablespoon lime juice

1/2 teaspoon honey

1/2 teaspoon salt

1/2 teaspoon coarsely ground pepper

1 tablespoon olive oil

Mix the juices, honey, salt and pepper in a small bowl.  Drizzle in the olive oil while whisking until the dressing is uniform.

Print this recipe:  Orange and Beet Winter Salad

You may also like:

Orange Quinoa with Almonds, Olives, and Feta

Roasted Beet and Hazelnut Salad with Feta

Satsuma Vanilla Upside Down  Cake