Roasted Beets Lemon Salad

I just love the color nature has created in fruits and vegetables. One of the most vibrant is the color in the beets, is a purple and red hue that is so unique.  You can garnish a plate with beets and make it more attractive immediately.  However if I wanted to eat cooked beets and avoid the ones from the can, the boiling process was a little annoying. First wash them, boil them for a long time and then discard the rosy water that might spill on your clothes and never goes away, it doesn’t sound like fun. Does it?

 But it was until very recent that I found out you can roast beets. Roasting them sounded farfetched because I thought I needed a barbeque grill and special trays, but no, it turns out you can grill them in your oven and the results are delicious.   The fresh flavor is present, the texture is somehow crunchy, and there isn’t as much mess as there is with the boiling.  Since I learned how to prepare them I have been using them in many ways: as a side dish, in soups, etc. But my favorite way to eat them is in a salad with lemon dressing. The sweetness of the beet and the zest of the lemon create a sweet and sour flavor that is really appetizing.

*Roasted beets can be refrigerated for up to one week in a plastic container, discard them if they look dull.

Roasted Beets

I usually buy 4 large beets to use during 1 week.  WASH the beets, PEEL them and CUT THEM in thick slices (I will say 4 to 5 slice per beet). In my experience if you dice them before roasting, they get a mushy texture. PREHEAT the oven at 375 F.  In a cookie sheet or any baking tray spread 1 TBSP of Olive Oil.  PLACE the beets slices and roast them for 20 minutes.  After the first 10 minutes I open the oven and with a fork I turn the beets around so they can evenly roast. TAKE THEM OUT of the oven and LET THEM COOL for 10 to 15 minutes. You can slice them in tinnier pieces or use the whole slice.

 

LEMON DRESSING SALAD

1 Bag of Baby Lettuce Salad

2 Tbsp of finely chopped white onion    

20 cherry tomatoes cut in half

1 Cup of diced Roasted Beets

Juice from 1.5 lemons

1 Tsp of Paprika

1 Tsp of Black Pepper

1 Crushed Garlic Clove

½ Cup of Extra Virgin Olive Oil

Fetta Cheese to garnish (optional)

Salt to season

In a salad bowl, mix the onions, tomatoes and lettuce. And refrigerate it until you are ready to eat it  (the onion flavor permeates to the lettuce leaves if the ingredients are mixed before eating). In a separate container mix the oil, lemon juice, garlic and spices.  Whisk it until all the ingredients have incorporated. Let it stand for at least 1 hour. When you are ready to eat the salad, add the dressing and mix it. At the end add the beets and the cheese, so they won’t smudge while you shake the salad.  Enjoy a fresh and healthy salad.

Calabacitas con  Elote or  Mexican Zucchini  with Corn

Today it was an unusual cold day in Los Angeles; I wanted to eat something satisfying, warm and tasty, with homemade flavor.   However I didn’t want the calories that a “cozy meal” frequently has. So I took my calabacitas or Mexican zucchini as you find it in the store, and made this common and simple, but delightful plate.  I could easily say that if you have grown in Mexico there is a 90% possibility that you have eaten Calabacitas con Elote  as part of a regular lunch meal. Everybody has its recipe and there are many variations, but this is the recipe I have been using for years.

Ingredients

6 Medium Mexican Zucchinis

1 Cup Whole Corn Kernels (cooked, canned or frozen)

1 Large Tomato Diced

1 Medium White Onion Diced

3 Tablespoons of Tomato Sauce

1 Garlic Clove Chopped

3 Tablespoons of Mexican Cream or Sour Cream

¾ Cup of Water OR Vegetable OR Chicken Broth

Salt and Pepper

2 Tablespoons of Olive Oil

Shredded Mozzarella or Chihuahua Cheese to Garnish (Optional)

In a large skillet warm the oil at medium heat for 2 minutes.  Add the onions and move around with a wooden spoon until they start to look tender and transparent.  Then add the garlic and the tomatoes. Keep moving until tomatoes become soft and smashed.  While the onions, garlic and tomatoes cook, you start to dice the zucchinis in big chunks. Put in the pieces of zucchini and mix with the wooden spoon.  Pour the water or chicken broth on top; add the tomato sauce and the cream. Mix again in order to incorporate all the ingredients.  Once the liquid in the mix starts to boil add the salt and pepper to season, then lower the heat and cover. Let it stay at low heat for about 5 minutes.  Turn off the heat and let it set the flavor for another 5 minutes. Then serve and garnish with cheese if you want. The cheese will melt into the mix making it creamier.

 *The beauty of this recipe is that can easily transform in a vegetarian plate if you change the chicken broth for vegetable broth and skip the cream and replace it by soy milk.