Carolina Reid is Farm Aid’s Culinary Manager and is a procurement consultant who works to connect chefs and eaters to farmers and their food and land. She’s responsible for seeing out the mission of Farm Aid’s concession brand HOMEGROWN Food for All©, the food served at our festivals. This program brings festivalgoers food sustainably produced by family farmers, utilizing ecological practices and with a commitment to a fair price paid to the farmers.
Beets are affordable, packed with antioxidants and a great storage crop, meaning they’re easy to find all winter – even in cold places. I love making this dish and was happy to see Aramark’s Chef Jolene (who headed up concessions at Huntington Bank Stadium for Farm Aid 40) adapt it for the HOMEGROWN Beet Salad served at Farm Aid 40. She substituted pecans for walnuts and included blue cheese. It would also be delicious with goat cheese. If you can’t find walnut oil, any neutral-flavor oil will work just fine.
Photo: Carolina Reid
Beet Walnut Salad
- 2 pounds beets
- 1/2 cup raw walnuts
- 1/2 small red onion
- 1/4 cup balsamic vinegar
- 1/4 cup walnut oil
- 1 teaspoon Dijon mustard
- 1/2 tsp salt
- 1/2 tsp black pepper
- Wrap whole baseball-sized beets in foil. If your beets are much larger than this, cut them in halves or quarters so they’re about the same size. Place on a cookie sheet in the oven at 350℉ for 35-50 minutes, until a fork can easily slide into the middle. Remove from foil and let stand for 10-15 minutes. Once they are cooled enough to handle, cut off the top and peel the skin off under running water. Dice the beets into 3/4” cubes. Allow beets to cool entirely in the refrigerator before tossing the salad.
- Spread walnuts on a cookie sheet and toast in the oven at 350℉ for 5-6 minutes. They’re ready when you smell their rich aroma. Roughly chop and let cool.
- Thinly slice red onion.
- Whisk vinegar, oil, mustard, salt and pepper.
- Toss diced beets, toasted walnuts and sliced onion in dressing and enjoy!
