Shannon's Recipes For a week in Late Janurary

Okay, I am right this second writing my very first ever blog post!!! I am a gardener, and gardeners and technology don't always go hand in hand, but I am braving this new world simply because my love of great, healthy food has driven me.

So I am starting off simple, with one simple recipe that makes me happy. This is perfect for this time of year, and perfect for a budgeted meal plan.

One, My newest discovery is that I LOVE Roasted Beets.... at least in this delicious combination.

Shan's Usual Beet Salad...a.k.a Orange Walnut Beet Salad
This makes a Beautifully colorful salad, great for everyday or a special occasion.
Cut Roots and tops off off beets. Roast small to medium beets wrapped individually in foil and placed in the oven at 350 on a cookie sheet for 1.5 hours. Pull the skin off the cooked beets once they have cooled just enough to handle safely. This will be very easy, but if you wait until they have completely cooled it will become more difficult to remove the skins.
Now, this salad has become a bit of an addiction so I usually buy one bunch of beets, Roast and peel them all and then store them in the fridge for 7 days (that's the longest they've ever lasted before being eaten up). Point is you can roast them all up and have an easy to toss together salad for the rest of the week.
I am usually making this salad up for one since my husband can only eat but so much of any one thing. So hear is the rest of the recipe for 1 and you can just double, triple etc to suit your needs.

1 Roasted, Pealed Beet. Cut in half and sliced into 1/8 inch slices
1 Clementine (or sectioned orange) separated into wedges, seeded,
lets be frank there are always seeds, and cut each wedge in half.
1/5 cup walnuts chopped coarsely
2 Tbsp seeds of pomegranate (I usually buy several in December and store them in fridge)
Mixed baby greens
Light topping of crumbled goat cheese

Dressing (Enough for 4-6 individual salads)
1/4 cup balsamic vinegar
1/2 cup olive oil
1/2 cup OJ concentrate
1-2 tbsp dry white wine.
Shake it up

Variations:
To be honest, the goat cheese only makes onto the salad about 1/3 of the time. If I happen to have it, or am cooking for guest I would add it, but I love it just as well with out. The white wine is also a definite improvement, but again, I only use it if I happen to have a bottle already open. Finally, I often even omit both the mixed greens and the goat cheese and eat simply the beets, pomegranate, oranges, and walnuts with the above dressing like a fruit salad. All Yummy.