Beets for even the beet haters. . .

Chef Brian of Silk Road, ready for the veggies!

The Farm Party menu is crafted around what we can harvest at the height of the season from our family of four neighborhood farms here in Missoula. This week Alexandra Brown, our Community Education Coordinator, rounded up hundreds of pounds of vegetables from our four farms to take to the Silk Road kitchen for next week’s feast.

Chef Brian was armed and ready for the onslaught, with chopper and mallet!

This year’s menu includes potato salad, coleslaw, and a NEW beet salad (not this recipe) along with pulled brisket sandwiches. We’re really breaking the mold!

Since we are taking on some new recipes at the Farm Party, we are retiring this crowd pleaser. But it is hard to say goodbye, so why not pass this one along so you can make it at home?!? It is a classic, and one that I love because even my beet loathing partner will eat it without complaint. And there are many out there that DO NOT love on the beets.

One of the deliveries to the Silk Road from our farms.

The recipe is simple, it is easy, and it is great for leftovers (as long as you don’t mind the cheese turning purple!). And if you are like me, you have a bag of beets you’ve been tucking away all summer from your CSA farm share or garden, because they keep! And for heaven’s sake we have to eat that fresh lettuce while we can! And because they’re beets, and they’re earthy, and messy, and have tough skins. So they’re just easier to avoid. This recipe should change that.

FARM PARTY BEET SALAD for all

(even the beet haters!)

Serves 6

Ingredients

  • 4 medium sized beets (should be around 1.5 lbs or 4 cups cubed beets)

  • 1/2 a medium Walla Walla onion

  • 1/4 cup safflower oil (or any oil you enjoy, at home I would use olive, but Safflower is definitely more local, if more refined)

  • 4 oz feta (we used Feta-U-Beta from Lifeline Farms to keep it local and organic — whoop whoop!)

  • Salt to taste

How to

Preheat oven to 375 degrees.

Wash the beets and remove tops if still attached (and feel free to use for another dish!). Peel and chop beets into bite sized pieces. Chop coarsely, about the same size as the beets.

Place beets and onions on a large cooking sheet (or two, best not to crowd the veggies). Cook until fork tender, approximately 20 – 30 minutes.

Let the beets and onions cool enough so that they won’t melt the cheese when you toss it all together.

While the beets are cooling, combine the crumbled cheese, safflower oil, and salt.

Once cooled, combine all ingredients together and serve!

Last year’s beet salad at the Farm Party. . . Yum!

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