Rick Bayless of Frontera Grill (the most well-known of his restaurant empire but he has so many brilliant establishments) is a genius. When I was most recently in Chicago, I made sure my first and last meals of the trip were both at one of his restaurants—yes, that’s how much of a fan I am. While browsing his website I saw a salad recipe of roasted beets, poblano, and young Manchego and decided the flavor profile sounded divine and unique. Plenty of zing from lime and umami from Worcestershire. I just can’t follow instructions as-is so made some minor tweaks and modifications that make for one flawless salad that hits so many texture and flavor notes.
Ingredients
- 1 1/2 pounds beets, washed and peeled
- 1 large red onion
- 2 poblano chiles
- 1/3 cup olive oil, plus more for roasting
- 2 tablespoons Worcestershire sauce
- 1 teaspoon salt, plus more for roasting
- 1/2 teaspoon black pepper, plus more for roasting
- 2 tablespoons fresh lime juice
- 2 tablespoons chopped Italian parsley
- 2-3 cups baby arugula
- 2 ounces Manchego cheese
- Chopped nuts (optional)
Instructions
Preheat the oven to 425 degrees. To prepare beets, slice into wedges—if you have baby or small beets, slicing into quarters works best; for larger, slice into sixths or eighths. Place in large bowl. Next, slice off the bottom of the red onion (be sure to leave the top part, or the part of the onion with the root intact). Slice onion in half vertically so each half is held together by the root, then remove outer peel. Then slice into wedges (about 6 to 8 total, depending on the size of the onion). It’s your goal to leave some of the root intact on each slice so the onion wedges stay together. Place in same bowl as beets; then throw in the whole poblano peppers. Drizzle all ingredients with olive oil and sprinkle with salt and pepper. Place ingredients onto a rimmed baking sheet and roast at 425 for approximately 30 minutes, tossing vegetables every 10 minutes or so. Once poblano is lightly charred and blackened (which is the goal) and the beets are tender when pierced with a fork or paring knife, your roasted veggies are done. Place poblanos in a bowl and cover tightly with plastic wrap. Let remaining vegetables cool at room temperature until ready to assemble salad (veggies may be roasted a day or several hours in advance).
When the chiles are cool enough to handle, peel off the blistered skin, pull out the stems and seed pods, then quickly rinse to remove any stray seeds and bits of skin. Cut into 1/4-inch slices about 2 inches long.
When ready to assemble salad, whisk together the olive oil, Worcestershire sauce, salt, pepper, lime juice, and chopped parsley in a large bowl. Add beets, onions, and poblanos and toss to coat. Lastly, add arugula and very lightly toss before moving to a shallow serving bowl or platter for serving. Using a vegetable peeler, shave Manchego directly over the salad and if using, top with chopped nuts.
Notes:
- While optional, some chopped nuts give this salad some great crunch and even more texture. I’m partial to marcona almonds, but cashews, pistachios, or even toasted pepitas would be great here.
- I like serving the roasted red onion in wedges, but you can always chop the wedges up so the onion is more distributed—I just like being able to slice off as much onion as desired from a wedge.
- If you’re hoping to make this in advance, roast the veggies up to a few days before serving and whisk together the dressing and refrigerate. Bring ingredients to room temp and assemble right before serving.
