Beet Salad with Macadamia Nut Ricotta
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Serves: 4-6
 
Ingredients
For the Salad:
  • 3 bunches of Beets (10-14, mixed colours if possible -golden, candy striped etc)
  • 8-10 Garlic cloves
  • 6 Thyme sprigs
  • ½ bunch of Dandelion Greens
  • 4 Green Onions, sliced
  • ¼ c Chervil, picked off the stems
  • ¼ c Tarragon, picked off the stems
  • ¼ c Chives, sliced
  • 1 Lemon, juice and zest
For the Ricotta:
  • ½ c Macadamia Nuts, soaked overnight and rinsed
  • ¼ c Brazil Nuts, soaked overnight and rinsed
  • 2 tsp Nutritional Yeast
  • ¼ c Chervil, chopped
  • 2 Tbsp Tarragon, chopped
  • ¼ c Chives, sliced
  • 2 Green Onions, sliced
  • 2 Garlic Cloves, roasted (from beets)
  • ½ Lemon, juice and zest
  • ¼ c + Water (more if needed)
  • ½ tsp Turmeric (optional, but recommended for its anti-inflammatory powers - WITH black pepper for better absorption)
  • 1 tsp Dulse (optional but recommended for extra minerals)
  • Sea (weed) salt to taste
Instructions
For the Salad:
  1. Preheat oven to 340*F (less heat is better but it can take foreeeeeever to cook them)
  2. Trim the tops off of the beets (reserve for juicing, sautee-ing, or to cut into other salad greens. I find its a little too much beet flavour if they all land in this salad).
  3. Wash the beets and lay out into a casserole dish that is big enough to give them a little space to roll. Add 2 cm (1/2inch-ish) of water, the garlic cloves and thyme. Cover with a fitted lid (or foil).
  4. Roast beets for 45-75 minutes, (depending on their size) until you can easily stab them with a knife. (They won't get as soft as potatoes).
  5. Allow to cool.
  6. Lay the dandelion greens down on a platter.
  7. Quarter the beets (unpeeled) and scatter them around on top of the dandelion greens.
  8. Scatter around the whole roast garlic cloves, unpeeled (reserving two for the ricotta recipe)
  9. Dollop the ricotta around abstractly, don't over think it.
  10. Scatter the herbs and green onions around on top, liberally.
  11. Pour the lemon juice and zest evenly over the top.
For the Ricotta:
  1. Dump the soaked and rinsed nuts into the blender with the roast garlic, nutritional yeast, lemon juice (turmeric, dulse), a pinch of sea salt and water.
  2. Blend until smooth (a high power blender is your friend in this recipe).
  3. Add a little more water if it isn't blending properly.
  4. Pour into a bowl and stir in the rest of the ingredients (herbs, lemon zest).
  5. Adjust seasoning.
  6. This tastes great as a dip, added as a layer to (vegan) lasagne, or smeared onto a salad plate before plating lemon-dressed delicate greens. Off of a spoon is, as always, a wonderful option too.
Recipe by The Crushing Cancer Kitchen at http://thecrushingcancerkitchen.com/greens/beet-salad-with-herbed-macadamia-nut-ricotta/