Featured Recipe

My favorite December salad

My friends at the Allen Farm are still growing an abundance of greens this time of year and I will gladly substitute their mixed greens for the Boston lettuce.

Salad of Roasted Beets, Grapefruit, Avocado and Pomegranate

Serve 6

This is my favorite winter time salad..

1-1/2 pounds beets (3 medium), green tops removed and saved for another use
Olive oil
Kosher or sea salt and freshly ground pepper
1 large pomegranate and 4 large navel grapefruit
1 cup grapefruit juice and 1/2 cup extra virgin olive oil, 1 teaspoon Dijon mustard
2 ripe avocados
2 heads Boston lettuce

To prepare the beets: Pre-heat oven to 400 degrees. Scrub the beets well and place in a single layer in a small baking pan. Lightly coat beets with olive oil and season with salt and pepper. Cover with foil and roast until tender when pierced with the point of a small knife, about 45 minutes. Let cool and slip off the skins with a paper towel. Cut into wedges and set aside in a bowl.

Cut off the peel of each grapefruit including the pith with a sharp knife. Moving the knife along the membrane that separates the sections of the orange, cut down toward the center and let the sections fall into a small bowl along with any juices. After removing all the sections, squeeze the fruit to capture any remaining juices. Can be done up to a day ahead and stored covered and refrigerated.

Mix olive oil and grapefruit juice together with salt and pepper. Add mustard. Whisk briskly

Toss beets with dressing. Divide the greens on individual serving plates and arrange the beets avocados, grapefruit and sprinkle pomegranate seeds attractively on top. Drizzle with remaining dressing and serve.

Barley Corn