Avocado, Roasted Beet, and Grapefruit Salad with Citrus Vinaigrette

This was a healthy, delicious salad with a nice balance of flavors - the slight sweetness from the roasted beets, the bitter, tangy, and sweet taste of the grapefruit, the sour taste from the lemon and tangerine juices, slight bitterness from the mixed greens, the sharp flavor of the raw shallots (that taste like the love child of onion and garlic), and the sea salt. I also love the balance of textures - the soft texture of the beets, the crunchy shallots or the brown rice cake crumbs, and the creamy, buttery texture and taste of the avocado, also known as a "butter pear", which pairs very well with the other ingredients in the salad. Having grown up in California, where the avocado is commonly grown, I love avocado - it goes in my salads, or is made into a spread that I've put on brown rice cakes (you can spread it on toast too) or into guacamole, one of my favorite dips. In this salad, I used Hass avocadoes, which have a more subtle taste than some of the other avocadoes.

I peeled and cut the beets into approximately 1 inch cubes, before roasting them, since I had purchased large beets and figured that the beets would roast much faster this way. Roasting the beets causes it to caramelized all over from the intense heat, resulting in beets that are sweeter than the raw version (which are already naturally sweet). I do tend to have a sweet tooth, and I loved the sweetness of the roasted beets.

Obviously, you don't want to wear anything white when preparing this salad. The beets definitely stained the other vegetables in the salad and a small section of my cutting board. That said, the fuchsia juice from the raw beets didn’t stain my fingers the way cooked beet juice is known to do and washed off fairly easily - so there's no need to worry about wearing disposable gloves. It will however stain your pee... so don't freak out if your pee turns pink - no, you're not internally bleeding and it's not one of Aunt Flo's monthly visits either (if you're a lady)!

Avocado, Roasted Beet, and Grapefruit Salad with Citrus Vinaigrette Adapted from Alice Waters' Chez Panisse Café Cookbook Ingredients: • 6 medium or 3 large red or golden beets • salt and pepper • 1 tablespoon balsamic vinegar • extra virgin olive oil • 1 large shallot, diced fine • 1 grapefruit, skin and pith removed • 2 tablespoons white wine vinegar • 1 tablespoon lemon juice • 1 tablespoon tangerine juice • ¼ teaspoon chopped lemon zest • ¼ teaspoon chopped tangerine zest • 2 firm ripe avocados • 5 oz mixed greens • parsley • 1 brown rice cake, crumbled Directions: 1. Preheat oven to 400°F. Peel and cut the beets into cubes. Arrange the beets in a single layer on a roasting pan. Drizzle with extra virgin olive oil and balsamic vinegar (optional), and toss, making sure the beets are evenly covered. Roast the beets for about 45 min, until they are soft and caramelized all over. 2. Meanwhile, for the vinaigrette, mix together white wine vinegar (optional), tangerine juice, lemon juice, shallot, parsley, tangerine zest and lemon zest, and whisk in the olive oil. Season with salt and pepper. 3. Cut the avocados in half, removing the skin and seeds. Slice the avocado lengthwise into ¼-inch sections, and scoop out the flesh with a large spoon. Peel the grapefruit, removing the skin and pith. Next, carefully peel off the thin skin of each grapefruit segment, making sure the segment stays intact. 4. Toss the beets gently with the vinaigrette. Arrange the beets on a plate with some mixed greens, the sliced avocado, and grapefruit segments. You can use pretty much any kind of mixed greens. I used a 5 oz package of Earthbound Farm's organic baby mixed greens that came pre-washed and contained some or all of the following greens: organic baby lettuces (red and green romaine, red and green oak leaf, lollo rosa, tango), organic red and green chard, organic mizuna, organic arugula, organic frisée, and organic radicchio. Drizzle the salad with the vinaigrette. Top with crumbled brown rice cakes as "croutons" - like so: