Chip was back in D.C. over the weekend for three days of Cookthinking. We managed to make it out to dinner both nights — Friday night at Fogo de Chao (oh, the meat) and Saturday night at Pizzeria Paradiso (oh, the bread and cheese). After those rich, wine-washed dinners, we wanted to work some vegetable matter into our working lunches.

Inspired by northern European cuisine from my recent jaunt to Chicago (a town with deep Swedish and Polish roots), I’ve been playing around with grated root vegetable salads. I had some golden beets, carrots and celeriac hibernating in the bottom drawer of the fridge.

After experimenting with some different flavors and textures, I ended up with the two salads below. They were delicious on their own. Later though, we hit on the idea of turning them into relishes for sandwiches, and that’s where they did their best work.

Spicy beet salad with dill
serves 4-6

Ingredients:
5 small golden beets, peeled and coarsely grated
2 tablespoons apple cider vinegar
4 tablespoons olive oil
1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
1/2 teaspoon red pepper flakes
2 tablespoons finely chopped fresh dill

Instructions:
Cut off and discard the beets’ stem and root ends. Coarsely grate the beets into a large bowl. Add the remaining ingredients to the bowl and stir to combine.

We spread a thick layer of the salad on whole grain bread along with thinly sliced pickles, goat gouda and roasted turkey.

Grated celeriac and carrot salad
serves 4-6

Ingredients:
1 celery root, peeled and coarsely grated
2 medium carrots, peeled and coarsely grated
2 tablespoons mayonnaise
1 tablespoon lemon juice
1/4 teaspoon red pepper flakes
1/2 teaspoon kosher salt

Instructions:
Grate the celeriac and carrot into a large bowl. Add the remaining ingredients and stir to combine.

We spread a thick layer of the salad on whole grain bread with thinly sliced roasted turkey and cheddar.

Posted by brys in recipes | | Subscribe to this feed