Centered Chef's salad with roasted beets and Nicoise olives.
What it is: One of the smallest olives cultivated, oval Nicoise olives range from purplish to brownish black in color. They’re cured in a salt brine and then typically packed in olive oil, developing a have a nutty, slightly sour flavor.
Ryan Hutmacher
Where it comes from: Originating in the French Riviera, Nicoise-style olives today mainly come from Spain, Italy and Morocco.
What to do with it: An essential element of Nicoise salads, Nicoise are great to eat by hand, paired with cheese and also add fine flavor to tapanades and other olive preparations, as well as seafood and poultry. They’re small, with a large pit, but pitting them is relatively easy.
Chef Ryan Hutmacher of the West Loop’s Centered Chef cooking school uses Nicoise olives and capers to point up a salad with roasted beets and baby spinach.
Centered Chef’s roasted beet salad
Chef Ryan Hutmacher
Salad:
2 to 3 medium golden beets, trimmed and scrubbed
3 cups baby spinach
1/4 red onion, sliced thinly
2 tablespoons capers, drained
1/4 cup pitted Nicoise olives
1 cup cherry tomatoes, sliced in half
1/2 cup crumbled goat cheeseProvencal vinaigrette:
2 tablespoons Dijon mustard
1 tablespoon fresh lemon juice
1/4 cup extra-virgin olive oil
1 clove garlic, minced fine
1 tablespoon fresh parsley, minced fine
Salt and pepper to taste
Roast the beets:Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Wrap the beets in foil and roast for 1 hour or until fork tender. Let cool and peel. Slice into 1/2 inch slices.
Assemble the salad: Arrange the spinach, tomato and onions on a plate. Layer the beet slices atop greens and sprinkle with olives, capers and goat cheese.
Mix the vinaigrette: Whisk the mustard, lemon juice in a small bowl until combined and slowly add the olive oil, whisking constantly to emulsify the dressing. Add the garlic and parsley, then season with salt and pepper.
Finish the salad with a light drizzle of the vinaigrette. 2 to 3 servings.
