dear cooks,

With its prevalence of Dungeness crab, fresh vegetables, cheese and salmon, Pacific Northwest flavors are perfect for your Labor Day weekend menu. Kurt Dammeier, creator of the World’s Best Mac and Cheese, founder of the award-winning Beecher’s Handmade Cheese, owner of Pasta & Co and Bennett's Pure Food Bistro on Mercer Island, has created a cookbook of recipes that will transport you to the salty-aired coast of the Pacific Northwest. In this, his first cookbook, you’ll discover that meals based on great raw materials require fewer ingredients, take less time to prepare, are healthier, and taste phenomenal.

golden beet salad

Serves 4 to 6

Salads need not focus on the lettuce. Here the greens take a back seat to vibrant golden beets. The salty, creamy blue cheese and the crunchy walnuts complement the sweet beets. Roasting the beets in water prevents them from drying out.

Ingredients

• 1 ¼ pounds golden beets, trimmed and rinsed
• 1 ½ tablespoons rice vinegar
• ½ teaspoon kosher salt
• ¼ teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
• 1 tablespoon extra-virgin olive oil
• ¼ teaspoon whole-grain or Dijon mustard
• 1 ounce spinach leaves or baby spinach, sliced (about 1 cup)
• 3 tablespoons toasted walnuts
• 1 ounce blue cheese, crumbled (¼ cup)

Preheat the oven to 400°F.

Place the beets in a roasting pan and add water to a depth of ½ inch. Cover the pan with foil and bake until the beets are easily pierced with a fork, about 1 ½ hours. Set the beets aside until they are cool enough to handle. Peel and rinse off any pieces of skin. Slice the beets into ½-inch-thick rounds, and then cut them into ¼-inch-thick sticks. Let the beets cool to room temperature.

Toss the beets with the rice vinegar, salt, and pepper. Add the olive oil and mustard and toss with the spinach. Garnish with the toasted walnuts and crumbled blue cheese.

Make Ahead: You can roast the beets up to 3 days in advance; toss them just before serving.

happy cooking!

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