Roasted Beet and Herbed Goat Cheese Stacks

• Directions Roast The Beets Preheat oven to 400°F. Place the beets in a small roasting pan and pour in enough cold water to reach about one quarter of the way up the sides of the beets. Roast the golden beets in a separate pan from the red beets so the colors do not bleed together. Cover the pan with foil and roast the beets until they are tender: 2 hours to 2 hours 15 minutes, depending on their size. To check for doneness, gently insert a toothpick into a beet. It should slide through easily. Remove the beets from the pan, cool and peel. Cut each beet into 1/4"-thick round slices. Cut each slice with a 2-3" round cookie cutter. (You will need ten rounds.) Cut trimmings into 1/4" dice and reserve 1/2 cup of dice for garnish.
• In a sauté pan, bring ½ cup of vinegar and ½ cup of sugar to a boil. Stir to combine and until sugar is dissolved. Lower heat to a simmer and poach beets one minute per side. Poach the golden beets first separately from the red beets to prevent the beets from bleeding onto one another. With a slotted spatula, remove and place on a baking tray lined with parchment paper. Cover and refrigerate until needed. Repeat with the red beets.
• When ready to assemble, heat the olive oil in a small sauté pan. Arrange the slices of herbed goat cheese in the pan and warm slightly, turning them with a small spatula just to warm both sides. This has to be done quickly or the cheese will melt.

Make Balsamic Glaze

• NOTE: Use a heat diffuser when reducing balsamic vinegar. If you boil it too hard the acid will remain and make the glaze too sharp. Heat 2 cups balsamic vinegar in a heavy medium saucepan over medium heat until you see steam rising from the vinegar. Decrease the heat and reduce the vinegar for 2 to 3 hours until it is thickened and is like maple syrup. You should have about ½ cup of the glaze. Store glaze in a plastic squeeze bottle and bring to room temperature when needed.

Make the Herbed Goat Cheese

• Combine the parsley, chives, thyme and pepper in a bowl. Lay enough plastic wrap on a flat surface to tightly wrap around the cheese log. Place herb mixture on plastic wrap. Roll the cheese log in the mixture, coating all sides while retaining the shape of the log. Wrap in plastic wrap and refrigerate until needed.

Make the Blood Orange Almond Vinaigrette

• Bring blood orange juice to a boil in medium sauce pan. Reduce heat to a simmer and reduce until you have 1/3 cup of blood orange juice.

  In a medium bowl, combine reduced blood orange juice, vinegar, shallot, thyme and blood orange zest.

  Slowly drizzle oils into mixture while whisking until combined and thick. Season with salt and pepper to taste. Refrigerate until needed.

Assemble

• The Beet Stacks Starting with a red beet round, place one round on a firm, flat surface and begin to layer. Top with a slice of goat cheese, then a golden beet round, a second slice of cheese, another red beet round, a third slice of cheese and a beet round. (Continue until you have five layers of beets and four layers of cheese.) Depending on the size of the beets, you can either leave the rounds whole or cut them in half, placing them on their back when plated so you can see the gorgeous alternating colors between the cheese. Repeat with the remaining beets and cheese.

To Serve

• This dish looks best on plain white plates. Drizzle plates with Fresh Organic Basil Oil and Balsamic Glaze. Arrange the stacks of beets in the center of each plate with drizzled oil and glaze. Toss the baby lettuces with the Organic Blood Orange Almond Vinaigrette and mound half of the lettuces in the middle and in-between the stacks of beats. Sprinkle the reserved diced beets on top of the greens. Serve immediately.
• Chef’s Tip This is truly an impressive dish and fairly easy to do if prepared ahead. I have served this dish to people who do not like beets and they love it. My advice, don't tell your friends what they are eating until they have taken a bite. As always, use as many organic ingredients you can find for optimum flavor and health.