Beet it.

I’ve been watching a lot of True Blood lately.  I invite my friends over and we eat things that resemble blood, you know, like a blood-themed-party, but more delicious, while we watch long stretches of the vampire drama. Last time it was tomatoes and jello with raspberries.  I was trying to think of more bloody things to make for this Sunday’s 3-episode party while I was at the store last night and I ended up buying beets.  Which, when roasted, then stabbed, bleed profusely onto the cookie sheet.  Also.  Beets are delicious.

And so I came up with this recipe for lunch today as a test for Sunday. The sweetness of the beets and the tangerines marries perfectly with the saltiness of the greens and the onions.  The tartness of the lemon juice brings it all together on the creamy, chewy, crunchy goat-cheese covered bread. It’s kind of messy, so we might actually resemble vampires when we’re done eating.

Beet and Tangerine Salad on Toast

2 small or 1 large beet

1/2 small red onion

1 tangerine

juice of 1/2 lemon

2 oz. goat cheese

olive oil

Kosher salt

fresh ground pepper

4 thick slices of crusty bread (I use Grand Central Yukon Gold bread)

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.  Cut off the top of the beets and the bottom.  Reserve the beet greens for later.  Wash the beet and peel it.  Drizzle the beet with olive oil, sprinkle with salt and pepper.  Wrap in parchment paper and place on a cookie sheet.  Bake at 350 for one hour.  If the beets are larger, add twenty minutes.  Set aside to cool.

Heat a tablespoon of olive oil in a skillet.  Clean and dice the beet greens and add them to the skillet.  Season with salt and pepper.  Saute the greens for 2-3 minutes, until wilted.  Dice the red onion and add to the skillet.  Remove from heat.

Peel the tangerine and break up into segments.  Chop into bite-sized pieces, removing the seeds as you go.  In a bowl, combine the greens, the onions and the tangerines.  Chop the beets into bite-sized pieces and add to the bowl.  Add the lemon juice and season with salt and pepper to taste.

In a pre-heated oven, toast the slices of bread at 350 until crispy on the outside.  Smear with goat cheese.  Top with the beet salad.  Drizzle with olive oil.  Enjoy!

Serves 4.