Dad is always going on about how we need to use the veggies from the garden, so this is one of the ones that I made especially for dad. Since he loves blue cheese mom is always getting him anything with blue cheese in it. Salad dressings, stuffed olives etc. But pretty much he or I were the only ones eating it. So in honor of dad I used as much stuff from the garden and the farm as I could.
BEETS:
8 baseball size red beets
2 tbs. olive oil
sea salt
Preheat oven to 450 F. trim beets and rub with oil and sprinkle with sea salt. Wrap in tin foil like candy and just twist the ends. Cook for 1 - 1 1/2 hours or until a fork goes in easily.
Meanwhile prepare other ingredients...
1/2 c. chopped roasted hazelnuts
1/2 c. crumbled smoked or regular blue cheese
2 small red onions quartered, rubbed with oil and grilled
DRESSING:
1/2 c. fresh squeezed lemon juice
salt/pepper
2 tbs. brown sugar
1/2 c. olive oil
In a small sauce pan combine lemon juice, salt, pepper and 1 tbs. sugar. reduce until the back of a spoon dipped in is coated. Cool and add oil.
Remove beets and leave in the foil. cool them completely. Once they are cooled, carefully with gloves on, removed the skin. They should slip off. Halve them, and quarter them. toss everything but the blue cheese in the dressing. Add cheese after everything is coated. Serve chilled on a bed of greens.
Makes 4-5 cups.
