Beet Salad with Whipped Goat Cheese and Pistachios

(Based on a dish I loved at the Purple Pig in Chicago)

This recipe is flexible, so don't worry too much about quantities. And, it's best at room temperature. It's highly recommended you wear latex/surgical gloves when working with beets or your hands will get stained! A box is cheap and you can use them when cutting chilies too.

Here's a good photo of the Purple Pig's dish. And here's a link to their recipe. And, another recipe is here.

Beets I use about 8-12 small to average.

Goat cheese I buy a small round of inexpensive plain chevre without any added herbs, pepper or anything. Let it come to room temperature. Better yet, put it in the bowl you will mix it in and chop it up a bit to warm up and soften.

Whipping cream just buy a pint

A mild oil I like using almond, but it's expensive. Walnut (as long as it's not rancid) or canola or some combination of oils (I suspect olive would overwhelm the delicate flavor of the dish - maybe not) You'll use maybe 3/4 cup?

Raspberry vinegar you'll use maybe 1/4 cup?

Parsley One bunch - you are only going to use a little

Shelled pistachios You might use about 1/4 cup or so. Chop them, but not too finely. I use a mezzaluna.

Salt and pepper

Roast beets (I use either regular red beets or chioggia beets, as they make a beautiful pink, white and green dish):

SALT ROAST: If you want to salt roast them, like they do at the Purple Pig, here's how based on the link below. Otherwise do the regular roast. Preheat the oven to 425ºF. Pour kosher salt into a shallow roasting vessel to make a thin layer. Place beets on salt bed. If using herbs, nestle a few sprigs among the beets. Cover pan tightly with foil and place in oven for about one hour, depending on how many and how big your beets are. Note: To test for doneness, remove foil and slip a pairing knife into one of the beets. [I roasted the beets in my 2-handled "Everyday Pan", on my grill outside for about 1-1/4 hours and turned them a few times.] If the knife meets little resistance, they are done. When beets are done, remove foil covering and let them cool. http://en.petitchef.com/recipes/salt-roasted-beets-with-goat-cheese-toasted-walnuts-fid-799889

REGULAR ROAST:

Put them on your grill naked. Large ones usually take about an hour, small ones maybe 30-45 minutes. If a fork goes in easily, it's done. I turn them every 20 minutes. They will char black on the outside, no problem. That's the skin you're going to take off anyway.

WHILE THEY ARE ROASTING AND COOLING:

Shake up some vinaigrette in a ball jar: 2/3 almond oil, 1/3 raspberry vinegar, salt, pepper. (Google Image "Salt-Roasted Beets with Whipped Goat Cheese & Pistachio Vinaigrette" to see how they serve them.)

Whip some heavy whipping cream - maybe 1/4 cup, but whip more. You might need it and you can always eat it later. With a fork, fold some of it into soft chevre goat cheese (an inexpensive brand worked fine) until it seems right - not so much you can't taste the cheese, but enough so it feels "whipped".

When the beets are done, let them cool till you can handle them. Wear gloves! Trim off the stem end and root/tail. If the skin is thin and they are young, run them under water with a vegetable brush. If the skin is thicker, peel it off. Chop the beets into chunks - I like about 1/4-1/2 inch size - and put into a bowl.

Toss the beet chunks in the vinaigrette, drain if too much then add most of the chopped parsley. Plate them individually or put in a casserole dish to serve family style. Top with blobs of the whipped goat cheese and sprinkled with a little chopped parsley and top with the pistachios.