We loved this light and elegant beet salad served by Navio at The Ritz-Carlton Half Moon Bay. It was one of our favorite things on their Saturday Farmers Market Brunch menu.
Thank you to the chefs at Navio for sharing the recipe with us. Now you too can make this delicious seasonal dish at home.
You may not have ice wine vinegar sitting in your pantry, but you can easily get some here or here. This would also be a good substitute. We loved that they served the salad in these jars. We also love these ones. It was an elegant and fun way to serve small dishes and a great idea to do at home for a brunch, baby shower, or starter to dinner.
GET RECIPE: Herb Ricotta, Fava Bean, and Spring Radish Tart
Thank you to Navio and The Ritz-Carlton at Half Moon Bay for sponsoring this post.
- 1 bunch Jumbo Red Beets
- 1 whole Semi Ripe Nectarine
- 1 whole English Cucumber
- ¼ cup Hazelnuts
- 1 bunch Chives, sliced thin
- 1 bunch Fresh thyme
- 4 cloves Garlic
- ¼ cup Sugar
- 3 tbsp Ice wine vinegar
- ¼ cup Red wine vinegar
- Chive blossoms or Edible flowers
- Extra virgin olive oil
- Sea salt
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
- Cut the tops off the beets if they have any. Rinse any excess dirt off of them. Place beets in a large roasting pan and cover half way with water. Add red wine vinegar, olive oil, garlic and thyme to pan. Season with salt and sugar all over. Wrap tin foil tightly over the pan so the sides are sealed. Bake in the oven until the beets are fork tender.
- Once they are fork tender, remove from liquid and using a clean kitchen towel remove the skin from the beets (wear latex gloves if you have some to avoid staining hands). Cut off the root end and trim the top, discard. Dice the beets small, refrigerate and reserve for later.
- Toss hazelnuts in olive oil and sea salt and bake until toasted brown at 350 degrees. Once cooled roughly chop.
- Remove the seed from the nectarine and slice into thin half-moon shapes with the skin on.
- Slice the cucumbers as thin as possible into rounds. Using a small ring mold that is about the same size as the core of the cucumber, punch out the center rings of the cucumber and discard.
- Toss beets with olive oil, ice wine vinegar, sea salt and the sliced chives. Place beets in a small serving platter.
- Garnish with the nectarines, cucumber slices, chopped hazelnuts and edible flowers. Drizzle olive oil, a little ice wine vinegar and sea salt over the top, serve and enjoy!