Beet, Apple, and Grapefruit Salad

Yes…more beets!

Just now I felt like something light, healthy, but sweet. We had yet more beets to use up, and I had half and apple from an egg salad sandwich I made a day earlier, so this is what went down: Beets, apples, grapefruit, red onion for a bite, dates and some maple syrup for some additional sweetness, red wine vinegar and olive oil for balance, and toasted walnuts for a salty crunch. Exactly what I was craving.

Ingredients:
1 beet, roasted and chilled
1/2 medium apple (I used fuji)
1/2 grapefruit wedges, bitter part removed
2 tablespoons thinly slivered red onion
1 date, chopped (or a tablespoon of rasins. optional)
A few walnuts or other toasted nuts
A dash redwine vinegar
A drizzle honey or maple syrup
A drizzle olive oil
Salt and pepper to taste

Directions:
Slice beets and apples in thin discs, as thin as you can. Add grapefruit wedges and thinly sliced red onion. Toss with vinegar, oil, honey, salt and pepper. Add finely sliced date, or whole raisins, and toasted nuts.

Grapefruit Salad with Emmenthal-Apple Croutons

This is a light refreshing salad, accompanied by a savory-sweet, even tangy cheese toast. The red onion gives its usual bite, which complemented quite nicely the refreshing bittersweetness of the juicy grapefruit. And I always enjoy the savory crunch of the pepita tossed on top. The toast adds to this light salad a bit more substance, so that as a lunch it could last you through the afternoon. I used Emmenthal cheese, initially because it was what we had leftover from the fondue, but I’ll tell you that it was a true complement to the grapefruit. Remembering how the apple was the favorite of all the dunkers in our fondue mixture, I decided to place a sliver of a slice of an apple on the whole wheat bread before layering on the slices of cheese and baking it until it bubbled over to a crisp. Cut into little triangles made a lovely appearance, and the toast gave was just enough robustness to make this salad a meal.