When I saw this week’s French Fridays with Dorie recipe involved beets I wasn’t too excited. Beets and I have a love-hate relationship, starting with hate when I was very young and the only beets I ever knew were from a can. Eew! I have had some spectacular beets in the past year or so, though none prepared by me so I was a little leery of this recipe. Still, it’s DORIE so how can you go wrong?
I started by roasting the beets in the oven.
I *might* have roasted them a little too long. Next time I will err on the side of not quite long enough since I really prefer my beets on the crispy side. These were a teensy bit too soft but that’s hard to tell when they are in the oven. Also, looking at these pictures, I realise that they are very different sizes. Perhaps that’s the issue.
In any case, the dressing was pretty tasty, with mustard, honey, vinegar and olive oil (always a good combination) and I loved Dorie’s tip about soaking the red onions in water for a few minutes to remove the bitterness. The onions were much milder in flavour with no ugly aftertaste which I love since I think I love the *idea* of red onions more than their taste. This is a salad that needs to be served cold – I made the mistake of serving it when the beets were still a little room-temperature-ish and it was just ok. The following day, after a night in the fridge, it was much better.
Served with a home-made (from scratch) weisswurst (Charcutepalooza spoiler alert!), I though it was an elegant take on some of the dishes you might see up the street from us in Little Poland (aka Roncesvalles Ave in Toronto).
Would I make this again? Maybe. Definitely not my favourite recipe from Around my French Table but I am glad I tried it and I learned a few things on the way!
Want to join French Fridays with Dorie? Join here.
French Fridays with Dorie participants do not publish the recipes on our blogs, rather, we prefer if you purchase Around My French Table for yourselves (trust me, you definitely want this book!) which you can do here on Amazon or Amazon Canada. Or for free worldwide shipping, buy from The Book Depository.
This week I am proud to announce that my recipes and photos will be featured on a beautiful new food website – Gojee…
Head on over there to check out my profile but beware, the site is addictive!
As many of you know, I am currently in Paris. I have a few posts lined up for the next couple of busy weeks (work and a conference) and will eventually get around to blogging about some of the fun culinary adventures I will be experiencing here. In the meantime, though, you can keep up with me through my Summer 2011 Flickr set. I will be updating this with day to day pictures (read: not all food photos!) fairly regularly so if you are so inclined, feel free to check that out!
We both love beets, so this recipe would be a fun fix for us. Good one. Looks like you’re on Gojee too. Congrats! Enjoy Paris!
You too and thanks!
This actually might be just what I need to erase the horror of my last encounter with beetroot. I ordinarily love it, especially after discovering those few years back that you didn’t have to buy it in a can, but last weekend I had a beetroot chutney in a restaurant that was horrendous. If anyone can erase the horror, it seems Dorie can.
Love it with that bread 🙂
Err… bread??? Not sure about beetroot chutney – that texture wouldn’t work for me…
I used to not do beets either but now, it’s a favorite – I love the combination of the sweet with the onions…beautiful!
Yes it does work pretty well!
I like the pairing with weisswurst! It reminds me a lot of my travels in Eastern Europe. Beautiful dish!
I ate so many dishes and ignored the beets in Eastern Europe – wish I hadn’t….
Unlike most people, I’m a beet newbie. I’ve always ignored the stuff from a can at salad bars and now that I’ve tried them, I think I love them. I like the idea of the milder red onion flavor and can’t wait to use the technique on guacamole and salsas.
Yes I will be trying that onion technique in other dishes too!
Glad you went ahead and tried these. Enjoy your holiday, Mardi!
Oh I am generally up for trying things….
Love beet and this looks like a must make. Enjoy your holidays, Mardi!
Thanks so much!
I love beets so I knew I was going to like this salad. I was a bit iffy about the raw onions, but after some soaking in the water, they were surprisingly good!
Enjoy Paris!!
Yes isn’t that a great trick?
I am always shocked when people say the don’t like beets Ieven liked them as a child (but then again I preferred pickles to candy LOL)
This look so good am so impressed you make your own wursts.
I need to buy this book I love seeing the various takes on her dishes
It really is a wonderful resource!
Look at that vibrant colour from the beets! I agree that one hour chilling time is not enough. The salad tastes much better next day.
Agree. Cold and crisp is how I think I prefer this salad.
Yummy! I love beets – any way, any time!
So funny, seems there really are two different “beet camps” – love/ hate!
I can identify. The only beets I ever had growing up were pickled. I love roasted beets now, especially in salads.
Pickled/ canned/ roasted – so different!
Congratulations on the Gojee site. Your picture is adorable! If I were doing FFWD I think I would have bowed out with this week’s. Beets are never on my grocery list :O
Well I am in this to try different foods, right? Doesn’t mean I will always like em!
I do like beets, but I don’t make them too often. I should invest in gloves maybe! This beet salad of sorts does look good and I like the coordinated table cloth underneath:)
Congrats again on the Gojee gig!
Yes, gloves are a necessity!
I love the color of beets, htough I’m not sure how I feel about the taste. Can you believe I’ve never eaten a beet? I can’t. How does one go thirty years without ever once tasting a beet? Especially as a vegetarian. It’s peculiar, I admit. But this presentation looks gorgeous. Stunning enough to try at least once.
You need to at least try roasted beets and some goat cheese – that is a great intro!
Yes, a nice “mild” beet salad. By that I eman, not as vinegary, more on the creamy side (from the mustard).
I enjoyed this last week as leftovers. I tend to prefer the crisper deep red sharp beet salad myself, but nonetheless found this pleasant and refreshing.
But as for a wine pairing?!? Oh goodness between the onion, vinegar and mustard — bit of a disaster.
Phew – glad you enjoyed!
A very beautiful way to serve up beets!
Thanks Marla!
Lovely photos! I think my favorite part of this recipe was how pretty the fresh green herbs were with the magenta beets.
Yes the thyme really worked well with the beets!
Homemade weisswurst! I am very impressed. In Bavaria this is eaten for breakfast, but since I don’t live in Bavaria I actually enjoy it for dinner sometimes. And always with a little sweet mustard.
Yes the mustard in the dressing was the perfect accompaniment to the wurst!
Well even though you don’t love beets, you made me excited to make this recipe tomorrow:-) Looks gorgeous! Looking forward to reading your culinary experiences in Paris:-)
Hugs, Terra
Cheers Terra 🙂
Love the idea of roasting beets and sounds a wonderful salad. Hope to see you soon in Paris!
Me too Jill, me too!
Lovely salad.
Enjoy your time in Paris!
I am! I will!
I have to admit that I’m not a super fan of beets even though I do appreciate their nutritional value … but this does look like an interesting combination — your photos have managed to make beets look interesting.
Why thanks so much!
So glad you grew to love beets. So many people say they hate beets when they’ve only had the canned variety. A fresh beet, roasted until caramelized to sugary goodness, is a thing of beauty. And once you try the real deal, you realize what you’ve been missing. 😉
Well I am not quite there yet but definitely on the road to enjoying them more!
This wasn’t my favorite either, though I love beets. My takeaway from this recipe was the soaked red onions. I’m not crazy about raw onions, and this really helped soften the flavor. Have a great time in Paris!
Yes my takeaway was the soaked red onions – such a useful tip!
I love to eat beets but hate to work with beets.
So messy!
Very interesting recipe! I’m never sure about beets, but this one does sound tasty!
I’m never sure either. Still not sure!