A winter salad should feel just as satisfying as a warm meal, and this one delivers in every bite. Earthy, sweet roasted beets and peppery arugula meet creamy, sharp blue cheese and bright segments of fresh orange, all tied together with rich, syrupy Pedro Ximénez sherry vinegar. But the real showstopper is the homemade fennel seed brittle—shattered over the top right before serving for a toasted, subtly sweet crunch that plays off the tangy cheese. Best of all, roasting the beets in a covered steam bath makes peeling them effortless, turning an intimidating ingredient into a breeze.
Serves about 4 as a side
Ingredients
Beet and arugula salad
1 pound (454 g) whole beets
1 ounce (28 g) Danish blue cheese or your favorite blue cheese, crumbled
About 2 loosely packed cups (57 g) arugula
About 2 tablespoons (28 g) Pedro Ximénez sherry vinegar
About 2 tablespoons (28 g) extra-virgin olive oil
1 orange, cut into supremes
Salt, to taste
1 batch fennel seed brittle, below, for topping
Fennel seed brittle
½ cup (99 g) granulated sugar
2 tablespoons plus 2½ teaspoons (42 g) water
About 3 tablespoons plus 1 teaspoon (71 g) glucose syrup or light corn syrup
About ½ cup (50 g) whole fennel seeds
½ tablespoon (7 g) unsalted butter
About ⅛ teaspoon (1 g) fine salt
Scant ¼ teaspoon (1 g) baking soda
Method
Roast the beets
Heat the oven to 350°F (175°C). Set the whole, unpeeled beets in a baking dish and add enough water to come about 1 inch up the sides. Cover the dish tightly with foil to trap the steam.
Check the beets after 1 hour. They’re ready when a fork slides easily into the center of the largest beet. If they need more time, top up the water as needed, cover again, and return them to the oven.
Let the beets cool in the covered dish. Once they’re cool enough to handle, rub off the skins with a paper towel and cut the beets into bite-size wedges.
Make the fennel seed brittle
Set a silicone baking mat on a rimmed baking sheet. Measure the remaining ingredients and have them within reach before you start cooking.
Combine the sugar and water in a small saucepan. Bring to a boil, stirring to dissolve the sugar. Add the glucose or corn syrup and cook without stirring until the syrup reaches 275°F (135°C) on a candy thermometer.
Stir in the fennel seeds. Continue cooking, stirring constantly, until the mixture reaches 308°F (153°C).
Take the pan off the heat and stir in the butter and salt. Add the baking soda and stir just until evenly incorporated. The mixture will foam.
Immediately pour the brittle onto the silicone mat and let it settle on its own. Once it’s completely cool and hard, break it into pieces and chop what you need for the salad.
Assemble the salad
To make the orange supremes, slice off the top and bottom of the orange. Stand it upright and cut away the peel and white pith, following the curve of the fruit. Slice along both sides of each membrane to release the segments.
In a mixing bowl, gently toss the beets and arugula with the sherry vinegar, olive oil, and salt to taste.
Divide among bowls and top with the crumbled blue cheese, orange segments, and chopped fennel seed brittle. Serve right away.
Storage Refrigerate the cooked beets in a covered container and dress the salad just before serving. Keep the cooled brittle in an airtight container at room temperature so it stays crisp—you will have extra brittle left over, which is great for snacking or serving alongside a cheese board.
Cook’s Note The baking soda creates tiny bubbles in the hot syrup. Let the brittle settle naturally on the mat without spreading it to preserve those bubbles and give it a lighter crunch. For the brittle, use the gram measurements if you have a scale, especially for the salt and baking soda.
