Dinner on the Fly: White Peach and Beet Salad

Sometimes I am not a good cook.  It's true.  Sometimes I don't even want to turn on my stove.  But I will for the mere necessity of eating dinner during the week.  For a few weeks I will spiral downward into a vortex of mediocre dinners.  To make it worse, my kitchen is almost never clean.  Truth is I just don't like takeout food.  But somehow there needs to be a compromise between making a perfect dinner, following recipes and being faithful to my trusted techniques, and having Styrofoam boxes of greasy food delivered to my door.  I am trying to convince myself that certain recipes are so little work that there is no difference betwwen throwing one together and ordering takeout.  Although that isn't always true I am trying to get as close to that statement as a goal as possible.  Maybe even eating something that is sure to keep my kitchen clean.  I want what I want, right?  And who says I can't have everything?

Then sometimes dinner comes together. A new recipe comes from just eyeing a combination of goodies in the fridge. Maybe it's the season.  Call it an accident.  A stroke of luck even.  Whatever.  I barely turned my oven on for this one.  I did but barely.

I had peaches. I had beets.  At some point I new that I had crostini with a smear of goat cheese and a slice of nectarine.  I am not sure where but it was delicious.  Beet and goat cheese salad is one of my classic go to recipes.  See, it was all coming together.

On this day the beets and the peaches were equally sweet, thanks to our biweekly CSA share.  Still, I couldn't help but add a drizzle of sweet balsamic vinegar.  It's like putting sugar on your strawberries in the morning.  You don't need it but it is so good.  The added complexity of a tart contrast is what finishes the salad, in this case a little lemon and a dollop of goat cheese.

White Peach and Beet salad with Goat Cheese

• one bunch beets red or white with greens attached,
• 2 to 3 peaches (white or yellow)
• 10 basil leaves torn
• approx. 1 1/2  tablespoons of olive oil
• juice of half a lemon
• approx. 1 tablespoon sweet balsamic vinegar
• salt
• pepper
• goat cheese (like chevre) for serving

Preheat your oven to 400 degrees.  Cut your beets into cubes and toss with salt and a drizzle of olive oil.  Roast in a baking dish until tender.  While the beets are in the oven mix your oil, vinegar and lemon, mixing the oil in last ad slowly.  Allow beets to cool for 10 minutes then toss all your ingredients.  Serve with a dollop of goat cheese.