Traditional salads are so last year. Just kidding, but incorporating non-traditional salad ingredients into your bowl makes any recipe a bit more filling and much more delicious. This golden beet salad, which we sampled (and went back for seconds and thirds… ), when we visited Alison and Jay Carroll’s Joshua Tree home last month, was a rainbow of mixed hues and flavor. It isn’t just a stunning dish to add to your summer table—it’s also full of nutrient-packed golden beets, carrots, and kumquats. A delight for every sense.
When our team visited the couple in their desert home, this salad was one of the many standouts of the meal. The warm golden colors set against the California sunset were the perfect mix of color—and made for the photogenic salad of our dreams.
Alison Carroll’s Carrot, Kumquat, and Golden Beet Salad
As mentioned, color is everything in this golden beet salad. It strays from the traditional green and incorporates bright reds and oranges that are the epitome of summer. Alison notes that while any citrus can be used, blood oranges are the perfect pairing for golden beets.
Description
A delicious golden beet salad perfect for warm summer nights.
- carrots, ideally small ones to roast whole or cut into halves
- olive oil
- salt
- chile powder
- golden beets, whole
- kumquats, cut into thin slices and careful to remove any seeds
- blood orange
- pepper
- Heat oven to 375 F. Toss carrots with some olive oil, salt, and chile powder and lay out on a baking sheet.
- Put whole beets in a small pan and puncture with the tines of a fork so steam can release. I don’t like cooking with foil, but you could wrap them with foil for a faster roast.
- Put the beets and carrots in the oven and roast until the beets are tender and the carrots are soft and starting to caramelize a bit. Depending on their size, they most likely will be finished at different times.
- While the beets are still hot but cool enough to handle, use a clean dishtowel to rub off their skins and slice them into wedges and rounds.
- Arrange the carrots, beets, and kumquats on a large plate and finish with some more olive oil. (I like our olio nuevo for this since it has a bit more of a punch and really works well with citrus.)
- Squeeze half a blood orange over top and finish with some salt and pepper. Other citrus would work well, but the blood-orange color is great with the golden beets. Serve warm.