Blood Orange, Beet and Fennel Salad

I snagged this recipe from Food and Wine magazine and made a few modifications. It's delicious. It's beautiful. It's Gluten-Free and oh so good for you. I made this for the first time a few days ago. Tonight, I am repeating it to serve with bacon-wrapped filets from Roy Pope Grocery (a hometown classic!). The sweet/tartness of the oranges and the fresh fennel taste is unbeatable. Start a bit early with this recipe so you'll have time to segment the oranges and bake the beets.

Lovely salad!

Ingredients:

2 medium red beets (tops trimmed)
2 medium golden beets (tops trimmed)
3 blood oranges
1 medium naval orange
1 Tablespoon lemon juice
1 Tablespoon lime juice
1/2 fennel bulb (thinly sliced using a mandoline -- see photo below)
1/4 red onion (or sweet 1015 onion)
Good quality pecan oil (I buy mine at Central Market)
Coarse sea salt
freshly ground pepper
handmade goat cheese (NOT feta cheese -- the handmade goat is mild tasting and has the texture of cream cheese)

This is a mandoline, a gizmo used to thinly slice veggies and fruits.

Instructions:

Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Wrap beets individually in aluminum foil and place on rimmed cookie sheet. Bake for one hour or until beets are tender when pierced with a knife. Let cool before handling.

Meanwhile, using a sharp knife, cut all peel and white pith from all oranges. Cut between membranes of 2 blood oranges to release segments into a medium sized bowl. Squeeze juice out of the membranes and discard membranes. Slice remaining blood orange and sweet naval orange crosswise into thin rounds. Place sliced oranges in bowl with the segments. Add lemon and lime juice.

Blood and navel oranges. Sliced and segmented.

Sliced fennel and red onion.

Peel cooled beets and slice 2 beets into thin rounds. Slice the remaining two beets into wedges.

Strain citrus juices from bowl into measuring cup.

Layer beets and oranges (sliced and segmented) on plates, dividing evenly between plates. Arrange fennel and onion over the beets. Spoon reserved citrus juices over fruit/veggie arrangement and drizzle pecan oil generously over it all. Top with coarse sea salt, pepper and a dollop of goat cheese. Let sit for 5 minutes to allow for the flavors to blend. Enjoy!!