On this edition of Tasty Tuesday we are so excited to share a recipe so beautiful and delicious that it could be served in a restaurant. Wait a second, it is served in a restaurant! We were lucky to get behind the scenes action of what really goes on in the back of the house when Chef Hollands from the San Francisco Marriott Marquis invited us into his kitchen!

As part of the Travel Brilliantly campaign, which calls upon influencers to innovate the world of travel, Chef Hollands created a roasted beet salad for us, in what seemed like record time. If there was one thing we learned from Chef Hollands it was that preparation in the kitchen makes a world of a difference. Chop, slice and dice all of your measured ingredients beforehand and then place them in those cute tiny prep bowls that you have so many of and never use {ahem!}.

Once you have ingredients in their designated bowl you can easily grab for what you need, toss it in a large mixing bowl and you’re done. Quite literally in this case as this was one of the easiest salads to make, ever. And roasted beets have such a good flavor- can’t get enough of them!

Roasted Organic Beet Salad

Ingredients:
6 large beets (preferably, 2 of each variety — Yellow, Chiogga, Red)
1 fennel bulb
2 radishes
1 bunch arugula
1 tbsp. chopped shallot
1 orange
2 lemons
1/4 cup Extra Virgin Olive Oil
1/4 cup red wine vinegar
1 tbsp. chopped chives
kosher salt and black pepper to taste

Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Wash the beets with the skin on and rub with Extra Virgin Olive Oil, salt and black pepper. Place in a pan and add 1/2 inch of water and vinegar. Cover pan with parchment paper or foil, and roast for two hours. Remove and peel off the skin and cut beets into bite sized pieces. Set aside.

Shave both the fennel and radish very thin on a Japanese mandolin or with a knife. Set aside. Clean the arugula and set aside.

To make the vinaigrette, first add the chopped shallot to a bowl. Juice both the orange and lemon and add to bowl with the shallot. Whisk in Olive Oil very slowly and season with salt, black pepper and the chopped chives.

To assemble, toss each ingredient separately into a large salad bowl with the Vinaigrette. Season individually with salt and pepper. Plate the beets on the bottom, then a layer of radish and fennel, and then top with the arugula.

I love this salad because it tastes so fresh and earthy. There are no heavy dressings or strong, competing flavors- the show is simple, the beets are the main act and for good reason. This is such a great salad to cook for a dinner party- it’s hearty, delicious and quite impressive!

We thought this salad was shockingly simple but wait until you see what Chef Hollands makes for us next week. You’ll never guess how incredibly easy it is to make one of your favorite, exotic go-to restaurant menu picks that you probably never thought of trying at home! Can you guess what it is? It’s gooood.

original photography for apartment 34 by Emily Scott // recipe c/o Marriott Hotels