Greens, Roasted Beets and Afternoon Gelato

Like many of you, I spend a few days cleansing at the beginning of every new year. Cleansing my house, my clutter, my mind and my body. There are several large trash bags filled with toys and unnecessary things waiting to be donated. This makes me feel both better and guilty. Better because I cannot function surrounded by clutter, yet guilty because it highlights how wasteful we can manage to be. I am striving for a more austere year in the material realm. I will let you know how that goes. Something tells me I will be challenged.

But back to cleansing my body.

Perhaps what I call cleansing is really not a strict cleansing diet as many experts would define it. I don’t limit my foods to juices. Maybe I should, but since I am a pretty healthy eater as is, I just try to eliminate certain extras, like red meat, dairy, sugar or too many grains. My skin is actually the first organ to notice. It feels good.

Unfortunately, this doesn’t mean everyone around me is on board.

Last week I was feeling particularly good about my choices after a roasted beet, greens, pistachio and chia seed salad lunch. Had a blood orange for dessert followed by a cup of ginger tea. Then the phone rang. “Is it ok if we stop over for a bit?”, asked J. “Of course!”.

And there I was five minutes later, faced with a pint of toasted almond gelato. I pulled out some crumble from the freezer, baked it and made everyone a nice bowl of blood orange segments, topped with almond crumble and toasted almond gelato. And what can I say, not what I had intended, but a great way to spend the afternoon nonetheless.

Roasted Beet, Greens, Pistachio and Chia Seed Salad

makes 1 serving

1/2 lb. baby beets, golden and red
2 cups mixed greens (romaine, spinach, watercress, beet greens)
1/2 medium spring onion, thinly sliced
1 Tbs unsalted pistachios, chopped
1 Tbs chia seeds
1/2 tsp salt
1/4 tsp freshly ground black pepper
1 tsp grainy mustard
2 tsp hazelnut oil
1 Tbs olive oil

Trim the tops of the baby beets. Wash them and toss them on a baking sheet with a drizzle of olive oil and a pinch of salt. Bake them in a 400F oven for about 30 minutes or until tender. Let them cool a bit and then peel them. The skin should come right off.

Mix the greens, sliced beets, onion and pistachios in a bowl.

Make the vinaigrette by whisking the chia seeds, salt, mustard, hazelnut oil and olive oil together. Pour over the salad and toss.