BEET ORANGE AND WALNUT SALAD)

Steps:

• Preheat the oven to 375 degrees. Wrap each beet in a piece of foil, sealing tight. Place all the beet packages on a foil-lined baking dish. Bake for 1 - 1 1/4 hours. Leave the beet packages on the baking dish, but carefully pull open a corner of the foil package to let the steam escape. Let the beet packages sit in this manner for 5-10 minutes. Carefully open the foil package more fully. Let the beet packages sit in this manner for an additional 5-10 minutes or until the beets can be handled comfortably. Slide your fingers over the surface of the beets and the skin of the beets will peel off easily. Cut the beets into wedges. Peel 2 of the oranges well, taking care to remove all the white pith, Carefully separate the peeled oranges into separate segments. Set aside. Squeeze the juice from the remaining orange. Set aside. In a bowl, combine 1 tablespoon of the walnut oil, sugar, salt and pepper. Add the walnuts and toss well to coat. Place the walnuts in a single layer on a baking dish and bake 5-7 minutes until the nuts are very hot to the touch and smell "nutty." Allow nuts to cool and chop coarsely. In a bowl, combine the orange juice, the olive oil, the remaining tablespoon walnut oil, red wine vinegar, and additional salt and pepper to taste. Toss the lettuce with three-quarters of the vinaigrette and spread on a platter. Toss the beets with the remaining vinaigrette. Top the nest of greens with a layer of beets. Arrange the orange wedges decoratively around the mound of beets and sprinkle the seasoned nuts over everything. Serve immediately. Note: Other nuts and their counterpart in nut oil may be used instead of walnuts. Source: adapted from FROM TAPAS TO MEZE Joanne Weir