I had a ton of herbs in my garden just begging to be picked and also some beautiful big beets that I really wanted to use. A roast beet salad (gluten-free, of course) with lots of fresh herbs and peppery arugula was just right for today.

For the herbs, by all means make them finely chopped and perfect, but I’m a big believer in the whole “when you cut your herbs too much, you leave most of the flavor on the board” mentality, plus over-chopping them turns them brown. You can, of course, finely chop herbs with a single pass of the knife, but this is not a recipe that needs that. Big, bold, bright herbs and garlic work perfectly here!

With beets, you can, of course, choose to boil them if you want. One thing that I’ve found really makes a difference with the flavor of the larger beets is adding some vinegar to the cooking process. It brings out a natural sweetness and brightness that sometimes gets lost as the beets mature and grow. If you’re roasting them, just a tablespoon or so is great, but if you’re boiling them, add 1/2-1 cup of red wine vinegar (for red beets) to your water. If you have gold beets, I’m a fan of champagne vinegar, but rice or even distilled white are fine.

Roast beets with arugula and herbs

Herb sauce

Ingredients:

• 1 bunch parsley, chopped
• 1/2 bunch thyme, chopped
• 1 sprig mint, chopped
• 1 bunch basil, chopped
• 1-2 sprigs tarragon, chopped
• 1 clove garlic, chopped
• zest of 1 lemon, plus 1 tsp juice
• 1 pinch crushed red pepper flakes
• 2 tsp sherry vinegar
• 1 cup olive oil
• salt and pepper to taste

Method:

Combine all and let sit for as long as you want to let the flavors come together. If you are going to let it sit for more than one hour, keep refrigerated.

Roast beets

Ingredients:

• 2-5# whole beets, scrubbed
• 1 Tbs olive oil
• 1 Tbs salt, plus a small pinch
• 1 tsp black pepper, plus a small pinch
• 1 bunch thyme
• zest of 1 orange
• 1 Tbs red wine vinegar
• 1 Tbs water

Method:

Preheat oven to 350°

Place two layers of aluminum foil large enough to wrap the beets on a baking tray completely. Put the beets on the foil and sprinkle all of the other ingredients over. Wrap tightly in foil. Keep the package on a tray, just in case there are drips or leaks, and bake for 45 min-1 1/2 hours, depending on the size of your beets. You want them to be tender when you poke them with a knife.

Remove from the oven when done and unwrap. When cool enough to handle, rub the skin off with your hands or a towel (a towel that you don’t mind staining with beet juice…). The skin should come off easily. Cut into bite-sized pieces.

Putting it together

Toss the beets with 1 tsp red wine vinegar, 1 Tbs olive oil, and salt and pepper to taste.

Add the arugula and season with a small pinch of salt and pepper.

Drizzle the herb sauce over (However, you can start by putting it on the plate and then building your salad on top of it if you want. It can look pretty cool to have the herb sauce pooling out from under the salad.)

(This salad is also awesome with some crumbled feta or goat cheese!)