Roasted Beet Salad with Fennel and Radish

Serving of beet salad on plate with fork and napkin

Roasted Beet Salad with Fennel and Radish

A stunning autumn salad for your Thanksgiving feast! Sweet roasted beets pair well with the mild licorice taste of fennel, tangy oranges and zesty watermelon radishes. The salad is finished with a simple balsamic-honey vinaigrette.

4.80 from 5 votes

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Prep Time: 30

Total Time: 30

Servings: to 10 Servings

Calories: 149kcal

Author: Pat Nyswonger

Ingredients

For the vinaigrette

1/4 cup balsamic vinegar
1 clove garlic grated
1 tablespoons honey
1/2 cup olive oil
1/4 teaspoon fine sea salt or table salt
Pinch of freshly ground white pepper

For the Salad:

8 medium roasted beets 4 red and 4 golden, chilled (see notes)
1 lemon juiced and added to a bowl of water
2 medium fennel bulbs cored and shaved or thinly sliced (about 2 cups)
2 large watermelon radishes thinly sliced, reserve 8-10 slices for flowers
3 navel oranges peel removed and sliced. Cut slices into quarters
1 small red onion thinly sliced
1/2 cup toasted pecan halves

Instructions

For the vinaigrette:

In a small jar combine the balsamic vinegar, garlic, honey, oil, salt and pepper, shake to blend, reserve.

The Beets:

Keep the beets separate from each color so the red beets do not bleed and color the golden beets. Working with on color of beets at a time, cut them in half and slice into wedges at about 1/2-inch thick. Place the beets on a plate lined with paper towels to absorb any juices.

For the Fennel:

Add the lemon juice to a bowl of water….the lemon juice will prevent the fennel from turning brown.
Trim the stalks off the fennel close to the top of the bulb and either discard or save for another project. Reserve some of the fronds to snip as a garnish. Set the bulb on it’s bottom and slice the bulb in half. Remove and discard the core and any brown outer layers of the fennel bulb.
Using a mandolin set on the thinnest blade possible, or the #1 blade on a food processor, shave the fennel. Add the shaved fennel the bowl of lemon water and let sit for 5 minutes. Drain the fennel in a mesh strainer, then tip out onto a kitchen towel and pat dry with paper towels and place on a plate.

Prepare the watermelon radishes:

Trim the tops of the radish and remove the root tail. Peel the radish with a vegetable peeler and slice the radish as thinly as possible.
Set aside 8-10 of the prettiest slices to make the garnish flowers.
Stack the remaining slices and cut them into 1/8-inch strips. Transfer to a plate.

Prepare the Oranges:

Working with one orange at a time, cut both ends off and stand the orange on end.
Slice off the peel and the white membrane. Cut the peeled orange into 1/4-inch slices and each slice into quarters and place on a plate. Repeat with remaining oranges.

The Red Onion:

Peel the onion and slice as thinly as possible, place on a small plate.

Arrange the Salad in 3 layers:

On a large platter or shallow salad bowl, randomly arrange 1/3 of the red and golden beets across the platter. Sprinkle with 1/3 of the fennel shaves, 1/3 of the radish strips, 1/3 of the oranges and 1/3 of the onion slices and toasted pecans.
Drizzle 2 tablespoons of vinaigrette over the layer and repeat the process for two more layers.

For the garnishes:

Snip fennel fronds over the top of the salad. To make the radish flowers: Place the tip of a paring knife at the center of a radish slice an cut to the edge. Hold the radish and overlap the radish edges, creating a cone. Place the flowers randomly on the salad along with sprigs of mint.

Notes

Prepare each salad component on a separate plate then the salad will be assembled in 3 layers. Each layer will be drizzled with vinaigrette.

Keep the beets separated during roasting, chilling and preparing so the red does not bleed into the golden beets.

A mandolin works well in slicing the fennel and radishes super thin. If you do not have a mandolin, the 1mm blade of a food processor will work.

Add the shaved fennel to the lemon water immediately after shaving. The acid in the lemon will prevent the fennel from turning brown.

Assemble the salad in layers rather tossing and mixing. This will prevent the red beets from coloring the other components.

Place the watermelon radish flower, seam down, and push the center with your finger to set it firmly in place.

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