Beet Salad

Large bags of beets were on sale the other day at the grocery store so I decided to pick up a bag. In the early fall I pickle beets, in the winter I like a nice borscht and other times I'll just roast them but this time I decided to try something a little different so I started looking up some beet salad recipes. I found a couple different ones but ended up making my own. Check it out and let me know what you think!



Ingredients (Beets):
15 - Small to Medium Beets, Scrubbed and washed
1 - Tsp Salt
1/2 - Tsp Pepper
1 - Tbsp Olive Oil

Ingredients (Dressing):
1 - Tbsp Dijon Mustard (or regular mustard if you don't have Dijon)
1 - Tbsp Balsamic Vinegar
1/2 - Tbsp Olive Oil

Directions:
Pre-heat oven to 400 degrees. Add beets to an oven safe dish, cover with olive oil, salt and pepper. Tightly cover with tin foil. Place in oven and cook for 60 -75 minutes or until a fork can easily pierce the beets.

Let the beets cool to room temperature or just put them in the fridge over night.

Cut off the bottoms and peel off as much skin as possible. Cut into small piece and put into a large bowl.

In a separate bowl add the mustard, balsamic vinegar and olive oil. Whisk together and pour over top of the beets. Mix until the beets are well coated. Top with some chives or green olives and serve as a side.

Bruschetta Bread

I was really surprised that I didn't already have this recipe posted as it's something that I make all the time. Bruschetta Bread is pretty quick appetizer and easy to make.



Ingredients:
3 - Large Tomatoes (Field Tomatoes are better because they aren't as juice)
3 - Tbsp of Balsamic Salad Dressing
1 - Tbsp of Olive Oil
2 - Green Onions (Just the greens)
2 - Cloves of Garlic
1 - Baguette



Directions:
Pre-heat the oven to 400 degrees. Score the three tomatoes on the bottom.

Put the tomatoes in a steamer, turn it on high and steam for 4 or 5 minutes until the skin starts to loosen. (You don't want to cook them).

While the tomatoes are steaming, cut the Baguette into 1" think pieces, brush olive oil onto one side and place face down on a backing sheet. Bake at 400 for about 6 - 8 minutes or until top start to get a little bit golden brown.

Take out a large bowl, add the balsamic, oil, green onion and garlic.

Mix it all together.

Once the tomatoes skins are starting to peel off, take the pot off the heat and pour cold water over it until cool.

Once the tomatoes have cooled, put them on a cutting board.

Chop them up.

Add the Tomatoes to the mixture and mix together.

At this point the baguettes should be ready. Pull them out and flip over.

Take a large spoonful of the mixture, place it on a baguette and serve. Make sure that you keep the bowl handy because you always need to load on some extra topping :)