I recently paid a visit to an awesome new burger joint called Salvation Burger.  They served me an amazing beet salad that included every part of the beet.  It was such a simple salad, and I knew I had to duplicate the cook on those beets.  When I grow up to be a professional chef, I wanna be just like Chef April Bloomfield.  I enjoyed the salad so much, that I purchased Chef Bloomfield’s book A Girl and Her Greens, click the book title and you can purchase the book as well.

There were several steps to get to the simple dish, because you have to treat the components very carefully.

First, I had to boil water salt, garlic cloves and thyme.

After separating the vegetable from the stems and leaves I added the beets to the boiling water, roots skin and all.

I separated the yellow beets from the red beets when I realized the water was going to color the yellow beets.

After the beets were cooked in the water until they are tender, I removed the beets from the water and threw away the garlic and thyme.  Then it was time to cook the stems and the leaves separately since they require a different cooking time.  Once the leaves and stems are cooked in the seasoned water from the beets, you simply toss the beets in olive oil and fresh tarragon leaves, shallots and a great balsamic vinegar.  The best discovery that I made in following Chef Bloomfield’s recipe was the finishing salt that she uses in her recipes.  Maldon Sea Salt is the answer to lifting up all savory recipes, I am convinced. 

The balance between the tarragon and balsamic with the sweetness of the beets is just an awesome surprise.

I know that some readers have been looking for more vegetable ideas to add to their meals, and I highly suggest Chef April Bloomfield’s book to raise the level of your vegetable dishes.  Please feel free to leave comments, and give me feedback