Roasted Fresh Asparagus Beets And Goat Cheese Medley Recipes

FRESH GOAT CHEESE, ROASTED BEET, AND WALNUT TART

Steps:

• HEAT the oven to 350°F. Wash the beets and dry them with a paper towel. Place the beets in a small ovenproof pan, drizzle them with the olive oil, and season with a little salt and pepper. Cover the pan with aluminum foil. Bake until the beets are tender when pierced with a paring knife, about 1 hour.
• ALLOW the beets to cool. Peel the beets using a small knife and cut them into a medium dice. (Be careful, as beet juice can stain counters, towels, and even your hands; you may want to wear gloves for this step.)
• HEAT the butter in a sauté pan over medium heat. Add the onion, season with a little salt, and cook, stirring every few minutes, until the onion is just tender, about 7 minutes. Add the white wine and cook for another minute, scraping up any browned bits stuck to the bottom of the pan.
• HEAT the oven to 350°F. Toss the beets and onion together and put them into the blind-baked tart shell.
• WHISK together the eggs and cream, season well with salt and pepper, and carefully pour over the beets and onion, letting the cream seep evenly into the beets. Dot the goat cheese all over the top of the tart. Put the tart on a baking sheet and bake it for 20 minutes. Sprinkle the chopped walnuts on top of the tart and drizzle the walnut oil over it, if using. Return the tart to the oven and bake until just set, an additional 15 to 20 minutes. Sprinkle the tart with the chopped parsley and let it rest for at least 5 minutes before serving.

SPRINGTIME ASPARAGUS MEDLEY

Steps:

• In large saucepan, bring water to oil. Add aspargus; cover and cook for 3-5 minutes or until crisp-tender. (I steamed my asparagus in the microwave.) Drain.
• Add tomatoes; cover and keep warm.
• In a blender, combine vinegar, Worcestershire sauce, sugar, onion, salt and paprika; cover and process until smooth. While processing, gradually add oil in a steady stream.
• Pour over asparagus mixture and toss to coat.
• Transfer to serving bowl; sprinkle with almonds and blue cheese if desired. Serve warm.

BALSAMIC ROASTED BEET SALAD

Steps:

• Preheat the oven to 400 degrees.
• Wrap the beets individually in aluminum foil and place them on a sheet pan. Roast them for 50 minutes to 1 hour, depending on their size, until a small sharp knife inserted in the middle indicates that they are tender. Unwrap each beet and set aside for 10 minutes, until cool enough to handle. Peel the beets with a small, sharp knife over a piece of parchment paper to prevent staining your cutting board.
• Meanwhile, whisk together the vinegar, olive oil, mustard, 2 teaspoons salt, and 1 teaspoon pepper and set aside. While the beets are still warm, cut each one in half and then each half into 4 to 6 wedges and place them in a large mixing bowl. As you're cutting the beets, toss them with half of the vinaigrette (warm beets absorb more vinaigrette), 1 teaspoon salt, and 1/4 teaspoon pepper. Taste for seasonings.
• Place the arugula in a separate bowl and toss it with enough vinaigrette to moisten. Put the arugula on a serving platter and then arrange the beets, almonds, and goat cheese on top. Drizzle with additional vinaigrette, if desired, sprinkle with salt and pepper, and serve warm or at room temperature.

ROASTED BEET AND ASPARAGUS SALAD

Steps:

• The Beets: Wash and dry the beets well. Rub them with the 1 1/2 Tablespoons of olive oil. Place them in a baking pan with 1 ounce of water. Cover the pan with aluminum foil and bake in a preheated 375 degree oven for 40 minutes to 1 hour & 15 minutes or until they are fork tender. Allow the beets to cool. Peel off the outer skin and small dice. This should yield about 3 cups. Place the diced beets, blood orange oil and cilantro in a bowl and toss. Season to taste with salt and fresh ground pepper. Reserve in the refrigerator.
• The Asparagus: While the beets are roasting, blanch the asparagus in salted boiling water for about 3 minutes until it is tender and bright green.
• Shock the asparagus in ice water for about 3-5 minutes or until it is cold throughout . Dry the asparagus and chop it into a small dice. This should yield about 3 cups. Reserve in the refrigerator.
• The Dijon Vinaigrette: While the beets are roasting or a couple of days in advance, combine the egg yolk, Dijon, and vinegar in a bowl. With a wire wisk, mix the ingredients well. Slowly in a steady stream, drizzle in the oil to form and emulsion. Add the parsley, chives and shallots. Mix well and season to taste with salt and fresh ground pepper. Reserve in the refrigerator.
• The Moroccan Spice & Almonds: While the beets are roasting, or 1 day before, remove the zest from 1 orange and place in a small oven proof container in the oven to dry out, watching constantly as not to burn it.
• Once the zest is dry allow it to cool. In a coffee grinder, add the cardamom, broken cinnamon stick, allspice & cloves and grind until fine.
• Pour the spices into a small bowl. Grind the dry orange rind in the same fashion and add it to the other spices. Add the sugar and salt and mix well with a fork. Reserve in an airtight container.
• Toast the almonds in a dry saute pan over medium heat on the stove until lightly golden brown. Drizzle the 1 Tablespoon of oil on the almonds and continue to toast for another 30 seconds. Pull the almonds off the heat and pour them evenly onto a cookie sheet. Sprinkle the almonds with about 1 - 1 1/2 Tablespoons of the Moroccan spice and continue to toast in the oven for approximately 1 - 2 minutes or until golden brown. Remove from the oven and cool completely. Reserve.
• To Build the Dish: Remove the beets, asparagus, vinaigrette & cheese from the refrigerator 1/2 an hour before serving. Add about 2 - 3 ounces of the Dijon vinaigrette to the asparagus and toss well. Season to taste with salt & pepper. In a round mold or free style, divide the asparagus onto the center of 6 plates. Add a layer of the dressed asparagus on top of the beets. (If you are using a mold, you will need to layer the beets and then the asparagus onto one plate before removing the mold and repeating onto the second plate and so forth.) Toss the field greens in some of the blood orange oil and place some of them onto the asparagus. Place 1 piece of Maytag blue cheese on top of the greens. Sprinkle each plate with the almonds. Garnish each plate with drizzles of Dijon vinaigrette, blood orange oil and chopped chives.