Apple salad with beet

"The beet is the most intense of vegetables. The radish, admittedly, is more feverish, but the fire of the radish is a cold fire, the fire of discontent, not of passion. Tomatoes are lusty enough, yet there runs through tomatoes an undercurrent of frivolity. Beets are deadly serious."
Tom Robbins

Why is it that when people see beets turn the other way? They are meaty and have this earthy flavour, not to mention this ruby colour that shouts out "I am alive". I have been trying to make the little person in the house eat beets, not very successfully. When I ask why he would not even try them, he says "I don't eat red things". Maybe because he is a kid and as Tom Robbins said, they are deadly serious?

For 6 servings

• 4 medium beets, cooked and cut in medium strips
• 1/3 cup extra virgin olive oil (you might want it oilier, in that case make it ½ cup)
• 2 tbsp white wine vinegar
• 2 teaspoons shredded orange peel
• 2 tbsp orange juice
• 1 medium red onion chopped
• a handful of non salted cashew nuts
• 2 tablespoons fresh mint or 2 teaspoons dried mint
• 2 teaspoons honey
• 1 tsp pink pepper berries
• 4 cups torn romaine lettuce
• 2 medium green apples chopped

Make the dressing by combining oil, vinegar, orange peel, orange juice, onion, mint, pink pepper and honey in jar. Cover firmly and shake well.
Combine beet, romaine lettuce, cashews and chopped apple in a bowl. Add the dressing, mix everything very well and serve.

Comfort me with apples

“If you want to make an apple pie from scratch, you must first create the universe.”
Dr. Carl Sagan

I found the basis for this easy, yum and all round nice recipe in Cooking Light. I’ve had a difficult week both on the work as well as on the insomnia front, so I wasn’t going to make my own pastry, obviously. I changed it a little –the original asks you to microwave honey at full power, and that makes honey lose all its beneficial qualities.
Think of it like a very quick way to accompany your coffee with something sweet that is not going to end up on your thighs (well, not 100% of it at least), and as a way to use your apples.

Quick and Thin Apple Tart
6 servings

• ½ package refrigerated pie dough
  
• 1/4 cup brown sugar
• 1 tablespoon ground cinnamon
• 800 gr. Golden Delicious apples, peeled, cored, and thinly sliced
• 2 1/2 tablespoons honey
  

Preheat oven to 280 K, 425 F.
Place dough on a lightly floured surface, roll into a circle. Place on a tart dish. Combine sugar and cinnamon. Sprinkle 1 tablespoon sugar mixture over dough. Arrange apple slices in a circle moving towards the centre. Sprinkle apple slices with remaining sugar mixture. Bake at 280 K, 425° F for 30 minutes.
In a little cup, thin honey with one teaspoon of water. Brush honey over warm tart.

This pie was baked while listening to the Smashing Pumpkins' song "Appels and Oranjes".