Roasted Carrot, Beet and Buratta Salad

This salad recipe is referred to as a “Lili salad” in the kitchen at Red Stick Spice. What that means is it’s amazing and has a few steps. It’s worth the extra steps! It is a holiday show stopper!

Ingredients:

Roasted Carrots (recipe follows)

Roasted Beets (recipe follows)

1 fennel bulb, thinly sliced

8 oz burrata, torn into pieces

2 avocados, sliced

4 mandarins, peeled and sections pulled apart

4-6 cups of greens, spinach, baby kale, arugula, red leaf lettuce

¼ cup pistachios, chopped

Orange Vinaigrette (recipe follows)

Roasted Carrots Ingredients:

3 garlic cloves, peeled

1 tsp cumin seeds

1 tsp fresh thyme leaves

¼ tsp crushed red chile flakes

Salt and ground black pepper

1 Tbl red wine vinegar

2 Tbl extra virgin olive oil

1 pound medium-size carrots peeled

Roasted Carrot Directions:

Heat oven to 400 °

In a small food processor or a mortar, pulse or pound the garlic with the cumin, thyme, chile flakes, 1½ teaspoons salt and ¾ teaspoon pepper to make a paste. Add vinegar and 2 tablespoons of the oil, and mix well.

Cut carrots in half lengthwise and cut across to make 4-inch segments.

Arrange carrots in a roasting pan and spread spice paste on top. Roast until carrots are tender and starting to brown, about 45 minutes.

Roasted Beets Ingredients:

6 to 8 medium red or golden beets (about 2 pounds)

1 tablespoon Arbequina Extra-Virgin Olive Oil

Kosher salt and freshly

Ground black pepper

1 fresh herb sprig, such as thyme, rosemary, sage or parsley, optional

Roasted Beet Directions:

Preheat the oven to 425 degrees F.

Cut off the leafy tops of the beets, leaving about 1/2 inch of stem, and reserve them for another use. Wash the beets well to remove all of the sand.

Toss the beets with the oil, 1 tablespoon water, 1 teaspoon salt and a few grinds of pepper in a large bowl. Transfer the beets to a large piece of foil, add the herb sprig if using and wrap the foil up into a packet. Put the packet on a baking sheet and roast until fork-tender, 40 to 50 minutes depending on the size of the beets.

Carefully open the packet, watching out for steam. Let the beets cool for 5 minutes, then peel while still warm by rubbing off the skins with paper towels. Slice beets as needed for recipe.

Orange Vinaigrette

Ingredients:

2 Tbl sherry vinegar or red wine vinegar

2-3 tsp orange zest, from 1 orange

⅓ cup orange juice, from 1 orange

2 tsp honey

Tbl Dijon mustard

⅓ cup Arbequina Extra Virgin Olive Oil

2 Tbl minced shallot

1/2 tsp sea salt

1/4 tsp freshly cracked black pepper

Directions:

In a small bowl whisk together all of the ingredients until fully combined and emulsified. Will keep for up to 1 week refrigerated in an airtight container.

To assemble salad:

In a large bowl, add the greens, sliced fennel, and mandarin segments season with salt and pepper. Add 2-3 Tbl orange vinaigrette and toss to coat the leaves.

On a large platter, place a layer of beets around the edge of the platter season with salt and pepper.

Follow by adding a layer of the roasted carrots next to the beets. Add a layer of the sliced avocados nest to the carrots. Season the avocados with salt and pepper. Tear burrata cheese into pieces and lay next to the avocados. Leaving a large opening in the middle of the platter for the salad mixture. Drizzle the beets, carrots and avocados and burrata with the vinaigrette.

Mound the salad in the middle of the platter. Add some avocado slices to the top of the salad and sprinkle with pistachios and drizzle with more vinaigrette.