Imagine the brilliant colors in this salad: sunny oranges and reds from the beets, toasty golden brown of the butter, and rich greens of the lettuces. Beautiful!
1 bunch golden beets (or any other beets), washed and cut into 1-inch slices
(Keep the tops; cut and reserve for salad)
1/2 cup olive oil
2 tablespoons smoked Hungarian or sweet paprika
1 tablespoon ground fennel
1 tablespoon ground coriander
2 cloves garlic, minced
4 sprigs thyme or 2 tablespoons ground thyme
4 tablespoons unsalted butter
2 tablespoons sherry vinegar or vine vinegar
1 tablespoon water
1 bunch spinach
1 bunch reserved beet tops
1 bunch red leaf lettuce
1 bunch arugula
1 bunch romaine lettuce
1 bunch Italian parsley
In a bowl, combine olive oil, paprika, fennel, coriander, garlic and thyme. Add beets and let marinate for 2 hours.
Preheat a grill pan. Remove the beets from the bowl and sprinkle with salt and pepper. Grill on medium heat for 10 minutes until they turn brown, then transfer to a bowl. Meanwhile cook butter until it turns brown and starts to have a nutty smell (about 5-10 minutes). Add the sherry or vine vinegar and water. Mix well and season with salt and pepper. Add the vinaigrette to the beets and serve it on the bed of greens.
Greens
Chop the spinach, beet tops, red leaf lettuce, arugula, romaine, and parsley into bite-sized pieces and combine in a bowl. Put a serving of greens on each plate and top with grilled browned buttered beets.