THE DISH
Salad with golden beets (and a bunch of other things)

THE INSPIRATION
Toronto band the Wilderness of Manitoba make lovely folk music based on hushed harmonies and lush, organic arrangements. Their album When You Left The Fire was made for this time of year: They mention breezy nights (“Orono Park”), devils dancing in the trees (“November”), and crashing waves (“White Water”). There’s also a song called “Golden Beets,” so I wanted to make a dish centered around those lovely beets that do not make a big, fuchsia-colored mess. It needed to be hearty and have a lot of components (kale! pomegranate seeds! apples!), because their songs have many textures and layers; but it had to be made from simple, natural ingredients, because the instrumentation is mostly acoustic. And we added sunflower seeds because Manitoba is Canada’s largest sunflower seed producer (and they taste good). Check out the video below; obviously quite perfect for ringing in November.

THE RECIPE
Serves 4

Ingredients:
There isn’t really a set amount of ingredients for any of this!

4 golden beets, peeled and thinly sliced
2 tsp balsamic vinegar (the one I used was blood orange-flavored), plus more to use as dressing
A few handfuls of kale
Handful of arugula
1/2 cup red quinoa, cooked according to package
1 tomato, sliced
1 apple, thinly sliced or chopped
1 tangerine, pulled apart
Crumbled goat cheese
Pomegranate seeds
About half a small onion, diced
Sunflower seeds
Olive oil
Honey

Directions:

For the beets: Cook in 1-2 teaspoons olive oil and balsamic until tender, about 10 minutes.
For the kale: Heat about 1 teaspoon of olive oil; add kale, cover the pan and let cook for about 3-5 minutes.

Assemble your salad! Drizzle honey and/or more balsamic on top as dressing.