Aleks and I came home from a couple hours of work in our plots at the community garden the other day with a bin full of fresh veggies, including some beautiful swiss chard, kale, a head of broccoli, two beets that needed to be thinned, and two small white onions that had also been planted a little too close to their neighbors. I turned this all (minus the broccoli) into lunch salads for Aleks and me (the big kids were at the zoo with Grandma and the little kid just gets it all second hand). It was delish, with Aleks saying I could totally charge $8.95 for it in a restaurant (though he didn't mention if he thought anyone would actually pay that much for it!). I made this salad again last night adding beet greens to the mix, and confirmed that this is an excellent way to use these ingredients.
Here's a pic of my plate before I dug in
It's pretty straight forward to make:
1) Cook your beets, then slice them. The first time I made this, I boiled the beets. The second time I roasted them, since I already had the oven on to make scalloped potatoes. I didn't taste much difference, and given how hot an oven can make a kitchen at this time of year, I would vote for boiling the beets unless your oven is already on for something else.
2) Thinly slice the onion into rings. Saute in some olive oil with some salt until cooked and slightly charred to your liking.
3) Coursely chop your greens. I like the majority to be kale, since kale holds it's crunch better than most other greens. I've also added in swiss chard and beet greens. Heat a bit of olive oil in a skillet, then add the greens and sprinkle with some salt. Turn the greens a few times, then throw a lid on top for a min. Don't let them burn! Also don't over-wilt them - the kale should still have some substance to it.
4) Put the greens on a plate and top with the onions, beets, and some crumbled blue cheese. The cheese goes really nicely with the sweetness of the beets and onions.
5) Enjoy!
