Salad of Roasted Beets, Grapefruit, Avocado and Pomegranate

beet-grapefruit-pomegranate-salad

Serves 6

This is my favorite winter time salad. I love to serve this with our potato latkes or for lunch with bacon.

1-1/2 pounds beets (3 medium) - green tops removed/save for another use

Olive oil

Kosher or sea salt

fresh ground pepper

2 ripe avocados

1 red onion sliced thin

2 heads Boston lettuce

1 large pomegranate

4 large navel grapefruit

1 cup rice wine vinegar with

2 Tablespoons maple sugar added

Dressing:

1 cup grapefruit juice

1/2 cup extra virgin olive oil

1 teaspoon Dijon mustard

Kosher or sea salt

fresh ground pepper

Preheat oven to 400 degrees.

To prepare the beets: Scrub the beets well and place in a single layer in a small baking pan. Lightly coat beets with olive oil and season with salt and pepper. Cover with foil and roast until tender when pierced with the point of a small knife, about 45 minutes. Let cool and slip off the skins with a paper towel. Cut into wedges and set aside in a bowl.

To prepare the onions: Place onions in a deep bowl. Heat vinegar and maple syrup in small pan until hot, but not boiling. Remove form stove top and pour over onions. Allow onions to steep for 20 minutes. Cut off the peel of each grapefruit including the pit with a sharp knife. Moving the knife along the membrane that separates the sections of the orange, cut down toward the center and let the sections fall into a small bowl along with any juices. After removing all the sections, squeeze the fruit to capture any remaining juices. Can be done up to a day ahead and stored covered and refrigerated.Mix olive oil and grapefruit juice together with salt and pepper. Add mustard. Whisk briskly. Toss beets with dressing. Divide the greens on individual serving plates and arrange the beets avocados, grapefruit and sprinkle pomegranate seeds attractively on top. Drizzle with remaining dressing and serve.