Beet/Orange Salad

one day, I will learn to take good photos. i swear.

We've talked about making dinner for one. To recap: it's a pain in the ass. Which is why I rotate through my easy favorites: two eggs on toast with goat cheese, tomato soup and avocado grilled cheese, panzanella (summer months only), a mashed potato with canned tomatoes, any one of these, or the good old mashed up avocado on toast sprinkled with salt. Notice how none of those are very healthy (especially when you throw mandatory dessert in the mix).

You see, a weekday dinner for myself should satisfy at least a couple of these criteria:
- tasty
- take less than an hour from kitchen to table
- make enough for lunch the next day,
  but not so much that I have to eat it for dinner again
- less expensive than restaurant food
- healthy enough that I don't feel bad eating dessert later

A salad seems like the perfect food. It satisfies ALL of those, but often lacks the first (most important) criteria. Not to fear. I have great news. I found a salad that I like besides panzanella. And it's juicy and it's good. It's so delicious that I went to TJ's to see if they restocked their cooked beets for 3 days in a row in hopes of having this salad for dinner again.

i supreme my oranges like it's no big deal

and i use white balsamic vinegar because I'm fancy like that

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Beet and Orange Salad
adapted just slightly from Dinner a Love Story
makes 3-4 servings

dressing:
1/4 cup red wine vinegar (or white balsamic - woot)
1/4 cup olive oil
1 tsp dijon mustard
pinch of sugar
salt and pepper

salad:
greens
oranges (roughly one per serving, but you might want to add another one. need i explain?)
cooked beets (yet another reason I love TJ's - $1.99) (they're double that at WF)
feta cheese
sliced almonds (honey roasted)

Mix the dressing in the measuring cup you used to measure vinegar and oil. Pour in a container you'll store in the fridge. (I'm thinking of doubling the dressing next time and pouring it in one of these.)

Supreme or slice the oranges, cut up the beets and store them in separate containers until you're ready to eat. Combine the salad ingredients, crumble feta cheese and sliced almonds on top. Add the dressing try to distribute it without getting beet juice on your shirt.

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And if you're freaked out by cooked slimy beets in the shrink-wrap at the store, boil them yourself. It's more work, and breaks my < 1 hour rule, but you'll be more likely to eat them. Promise me you'll try?