[Cookery] Pure Flavor: 125 Fresh All-American Recipes from the Pacific Northwest Fine hardcover in a fine dust jacket - 2007

golden beet salad
Serves 4 to 6

Salads need not focus on the lettuce. Here the greens take a back seat to vibrant golden beets. The salty, creamy blue cheese and the crunchy walnuts complement the sweet beets. Roasting the beets in water prevents them from drying out.

Ingredients

   • 1 1/4 pounds golden beets, trimmed and rinsed
   • 1 1/2 tablespoons rice vinegar
   • 1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
   • 1/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
   • 1 tablespoon extra-virgin olive oil
   • 1/4 teaspoon whole-grain or Dijon mustard
   • 1 ounce spinach leaves or baby spinach, sliced (about 1 cup)
   • 3 tablespoons toasted walnuts
   • 1 ounce blue cheese, crumbled (1/4 cup)


Preheat the oven to 400°F.

Place the beets in a roasting pan and add water to a depth of ½ inch. Cover the pan with foil and bake until the beets are easily pierced with a fork, about 1 ½ hours. Set the beets aside until they are cool enough to handle. Peel and rinse off any pieces of skin. Slice the beets into ½-inch-thick rounds, and then cut them into ¼-inch-thick sticks. Let the beets cool to room temperature.

Toss the beets with the rice vinegar, salt, and pepper. Add the olive oil and mustard and toss with the spinach. Garnish with the toasted walnuts and crumbled blue cheese.

Make Ahead: You can roast the beets up to 3 days in advance; toss them just before serving.

“Between Kurt Dammeier’s quest for superior ingredients, his to-die-for Mac and Cheese, and his love of the people and the bounty of the Pacific Northwest, the recipes and stories in Pure Flavor are pure joy for anyone who understands the magical relationship between passion and great food.”
--Laura Werlin, author of The All American Cheese and Wine Book

"Here are bright and modern ideas from the Pacific Northwest for home cooks, with lots of background info on one of America's most exciting regions for fresh, real, artisanal foods."
--David Rosengarten

"It wasn't too many years ago that we were hard-pressed to come up with a definition of "Pacific Northwest cuisine." Shunned by the national media, we wrung our collective hands and suffered through a period of intense debate and indecision. Although we were blessed with an abundance of apples and berries, and the sweet meat of Dungeness crab and fresh salmon could be brought to the table with ease, we weren't quite certain if the roots of our culinary heritage were deep enough. If only we had been privy to a copy of Pure Flavor: 125 Fresh All-American Recipes from the Pacific Northwest by Kurt Beecher Dammeier with Laura Holmes Haddad, the debate would have been clearly won by local advocates… [Pure Flavor is] the sort of book that cooks will reach for when entertaining special guests or simply putting dinner on the table. The recipes are easy to prepare, taste sensational and are visually beautiful…The lovely photography captures the beauty and spirit of the Northwest, and of the recipes presented in the book. It's a visual pleasure."
-Seattle Times

Kurt Beecher Dammeier is an entrepreneur and self-taught cook. Since opening Beecher s Handmade Cheese in Seattle in 2003, Dammeier has quickly become known as an American cheese industry expert. In addition to Beecher s, he owns four Pasta & Co gourmet retail shops and Bennett s Pure Food Bistro on Mercer Island, Washington, where he lives with his wife and their three sons. Visit these establishments online at www. beechershandmadecheese.com, www.pastaco.com, and www.bennettsbistro.com. Laura Holmes Haddad a former caterer and cookbook editor, is a freelance food and wine writer. You can visit her at www.gourmetgrrl.com."