I made this salad for lunch today, and arranged it in one of my vintage olive dishes. I composed it with 2 thinly sliced Moro blood oranges( with rind cut away), 3 small beets- peeled, diced, coated with olive oil and a little sea salt and roasted for 45 minutes at 375 degrees or until tender. The beets should be roasted under foil to keep them moist. I halved five or six Sicilian style pitted green olives, and arranged them on top. As a dressing I simply mixed an emulsion of two tablespoons of olive oil, a teaspooon of Balsamic vinegar, and a teaspoon of honey. Then I dusted the salad with a pinch of cumin.
I am seeing Moro oranges in the stores for the first time this year, They are an old Sicilian variety. Their color is gem-like- the color of rubies or garnets. I can picture this salad at the great feast given by Don Fabrizio in Giuseppe di Lampedusa's novel of Sicily- "The Leopard".
Click on the picture to enlarge and better appreciate the colors.
Did you know the Roman legions were fed on lots of beets. It took so long to settle some of their wars that the beet was grown as they went. I grow a white heirloom variety called Chioggia.In Lerrici, Italy you pushed the button and a machine cut the orange in half and squeezed fresh moro juice for you at the hotel breakfast buffet.When I saw that online it decided where i would stay.
ReplyDeleteFrom Betsy- I have seen Chioggia and golden beets at Whole Foods. Last year I posted a roasted golden beets dressed with cumin recipe. But oh the prices at Whole Foods-
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