Golden Beet Salad with Blue Cheese

This is my entry for this week's Weekend Herb Blogging round up. This blogging event was started by Kalyn from Kalyn's Kitchen. This week's host for Weekend Herb Blogging is Katie of Thyme for Cooking- be sure to pop by to see what other bloggers have come up with.

When I was looking for a salad for our St Patrick's Day dinner I wanted something that would combine the colours of the Irish flag (orange, green, and white). When I saw this salad on Elise's blog Simply Recipes I knew that I could tweak it to fit the bill. Her salad included pomegranate seeds and feta cheese which we deleted. Instead of the feta we added a nice Irish blue cheese from Cashel.

Everyone raved about the salad. In fact we ate the leftovers the next night and we're having it again tonight. When we eat something three times in less than a week you know that it is pretty incredible!

One of the best things about it is that you can make it ahead of time. Simply store the beets in the refrigerator and whip it all together just before serving. Easy, delicious, and attractive - it does not get any better than this!

Golden Beet Salad with Arugula and Blue Cheese

3 golden beets (can use regular red beets if you want, just not as pretty)
1 cup diced red onion
1/4 cup red wine vinegar
1/4 cup chicken broth or vegetable broth
3 tablespoons Triple Sec or other orange-flavored liqueur
1 tablespoon sugar
1/2 teaspoon grated orange peel
Salt
2 cups arugula
1/4 cup crumbled blue cheese cheese

Cook the beets - either boil them for 45 minutes or roast them at 375°F for an hour. Let cool. Peel and dice into 1/2 inch cubes.

In a 10 to 12-inch nonstick frying pan over high heat, boil beets, onion, vinegar, broth, liqueur, sugar, and orange peel, stirring often, until liquid is reduced to 2 tablespoons, 5 to 7 minutes. Let cool to room temperature, or chill airtight up to 1 day.

Arrange the beet mixture on top of arugula on individual plates. Sprinkle with blue cheese.

About Arugula
Arugula is an aromatic salad green.  It is also known as rocket, roquette, rugula and rucola, and is popular in Italian cuisine.

Nutrition
Like most salad greens, Arugula is very low in calories and is high in vitamins A and C. A 1/2 cup serving is two calories.   

History and Lore
In Roman times Arugula was grown for both it's leaves and the seed. The seed was used for flavoring oils.  On another interesting note, Rocket or Arugula seed has been used as an ingredient in aphrodisiac concoctions dating back to the first century, AD. (Cambridge World History of Food).

Part of a typical Roman meal was to offer a salad of greens, frequently Arugula ( spelled Arugola), romaine, chicory, mallow and lavender and seasoned with a "cheese sauce for lettuce"

How to Store
Rinse the leaves in cool water and dry on paper toweling. Wrap leaves tightly in plastic or a zip lock bag.  Best if used within two days.

Substitutes
You can substitute water cress for a simliar peppery flavor.  You can also use fresh baby spinach (but the flavor will not be the same). Also dandelion greens have a tart flavor but a bit more bitter.

Comments

[Elise]

What a brilliant idea! It never occurred to me to use this salad for St. Pat's.

[Jerry]

Something to remember for next year! It was an amazing salad, thank you so much for the original recipe.

[katie]

Great looking salad.
I've just started buying beets here - red ones. It's rather strange because they are cooked... but, handy as well!

[Jerry]

I've never seen cooked beets in the store (well, canned ones but they don't count!) Beets are one of the few vegetables that we can find here in good supply throughout the winter.

[Laurie Constantino]

HA - I just made a similar salad with red beets and gorgonzola (still have to write it up), but too bad I'm not as smart as you or I would have added the arugula. Great idea.

[Jerry]

Laurie - I take no credit for smartness (or anything else these days). The recipe was all Elise's. All I did was skip pomagranate seeds and ditch the feta. *smile*

[Kalyn]

I love the sound of this. Anything with arugula gets my vote. (Plus blue cheese, mmmm!)

[Jerry]

It was a great salad Kalyn. I agree with you about the blue cheese - many things are better with blue cheese. To think it took me some years to aquire the taste. . .

[MyKitchenInHalfCups]

Beautiful and brilliant salad! Very well done.

[Jerry]

Thanks kitchen. It has the hallmarks of a great dish - quick, flavourful, and an attractive presentation. Thanks Elise!