Roasted Beets with Horseradish Vinaigrette

Thank you to Michael Symon for this dish, and thank you to Michael Ruhlman for including it in The Soul of a Chef. While I’m at it, I should thank Central Market for selling both golden and red beets in bulk. No longer does the shopper have to purchase entire bunches of beets; one can now select individual beets of preferred color and size. So, why the gushing gratitude? This dish was fantastic.

I recently read The Soul of a Chef, which is great, and which includes recipes in the back. This one inspired near-immediate action. The ingredients just seemed right. In fact, horseradish, orange juice, and truffle oil come together in the vinaigrette to form a perfect accompaniment for the roasted beets. It’s really an ideal combination. These flavors were meant to co-exist.

I wasn’t able to locate fresh horseradish last weekend. I know I’ve bought it in early spring before, so I assume it’s out of season. For this dish, I purchased Vavel which is a prepared horseradish with no high-fructose corn syrup. It is preserved with vinegar, so I held back a little on the recipe’s specified amount of rice vinegar. Then, although watercress was to top the arrangement of sliced beets, I used sunflower sprouts. Once again, watercress was unavailable. Central Market loses one point for never having watercress.

Grilled ruby trout alongside the salad completed the meal. Not only was it delicious, the look of the salad is very striking on the plate. The only negative note is that those red beets will stain your cutting board, but they’re worth it. And, they’re good for you.