I cannot think of a more comforting food than a beet salad on a cool Fall evening. It’s one of my favorite things. It’s hearty and full of my power foods – it’s all protein and nutrients and magic!

Beauty of a Beet Salad

4 small beets
1 bunch of kale
2 chicken breasts
4 Tablespoons orange juice
1/4 cup olive oil plus some for cooking
2 Tablespoons apple cider vinegar
1 Tablespoon good mustard (stone ground)
1 teaspoon cinnamon
salt and pepper for the chicken if you want it

Place a steaming tray in a medium sized saucepan. Fill the pan to just below the bottom of the steamer tray with water and add 2 tablespoons of orange juice to the water.

Clean the beets by running under water and giving them a good scrub. Slice off the top and the bottom. Slice into wedges, about 1 inch at their widest point. Place beets in the steamer tray. Cover the saucepan with a well-fitting lid, and turn on the heat to a low/medium setting. These will take about 30-40 minutes to steam, depending on how dense the beets are. When you can easily stab a fork into them, remove them from heat.

About 20 minutes into the cooking of the beets, take out a skillet and cook your chicken. Drizzle the pan with a little olive oil. If you want to rub your chicken with some salt and pepper before you put it in the pan, you can, but just a little shake on each side – this is not about pepper chicken. I like to put a good sear on each side to really lock in the moisture, then cover it to finish cooking.

While the chicken and the beets are cooking (oh my, the kitchen is a busy place), rinse and de-stem the kale. You can also mix the dressing at this time.

To make the dressing, take out a small bowl, custard cup, gravy boat, etc. Pour in the rest of the orange juice, the olive oil, the vinegar, cinnamon, and the mustard. Mix well with a fork or small whisk. Put this aside.

When the chicken is fully cooked, take it out of the pan and throw the kale into the pan. Toss it around a little bit to heat it through, then transfer it to your serving dish. Toss the beets in on top of that. Slice the chicken across the grain and lay it over the salad. Drizzle the dressing and serve.

Oh, and then there was that time I replaced the chicken with a fried egg and some local prosciutto that was left in the fridge.

Enjoy!