I love beet salads.  Usually, they are paired with some sort of goat cheese, a lettuce and some walnuts.  It's a perfect pairing.  Classic.  I got some beets in my farmers market box the other day and didn't have any of the other usual components, so I got a little creative. 

I roasted the beets, then sliced them and served them with marinated fennel, blood oranges and mint.  It was a delicious combination.  One of the most important aspects of cooking is getting that balance of flavors.  This had the earthiness of the beets, the sweetness and acidity of the orange, the crisp of the fennel and the mint made it really refreshing. 

1 pound of beets

2 blood oranges (cara cara or any other orange will do)

1 regular orange, juiced

2 small fennel bulbs, thinly sliced

a couple of sprigs of fresh mint

Preheat oven to 400 degrees. 

Place the fennel in a bowl with the juice from the orange and refrigerate while the beets are cooking. 

Cut the tops off the beets, drizzle with olive oil, wrap in foil, and place in preheated oven.  Roast until tender when pierced with a fork (depending on the size of the beets, this could take 45-60 minutes).  Set aside to cool.

Once beets have cooled, peel and thnly slice into rounds.  Set aside.

Cut the peel off the orange and over a bowl, supreme the orange into segments, catching any juice in the bowl.  (First, cut off the peel, then trim off any white pith, then holding the orange in your hand, CAREFULLY, using a pairing knife, slice in between the segments to separate from the pith).  Set the bowl with the juice and orange segments aside. 

Chiffinade your mint.

Arrange the beets on a platter with the oranges.  Mound the fennel salad in the center.  Toss the mint over the dish and drizzle with a tablespoon of olive oil, the remaining orange juice.  Season with sea salt and pepper.