green salad with beets and prosciutto chips

For those of you not in the publishing world you may think it weird that professionally I am fully ensconced in preparations for the winter holidays. It is bizarre but true that while all of you are out there celebrating the longest day of the year I am thinking about the shortest days and the celebrating and culinary gluttony surrounding them.

I have just wrapped up recipe development [and testing and testing some more] for a great big dessert feature article. If I see another teaspoon of vanilla extract I think I may go over the edge! In fact I think I may have had a dream last night about my Kitchen Aid. I finally turned in those recipes yesterday. Phew!

As if I wasn’t quite over-sugared by that, I am also ramping-up work for styling the Lake Champlain Chocolate Company’s annual and holiday mail-order catalogs. After my initial meeting with these folks they sent me home with two shopping bags full of chocolate. The project director said he wanted me to “be inspired” by their products. Really? They are crazy nice and bring trays of chocolates to every meeting too!

I’m dying (of happiness) here folks. But I think I am going to have to move my family into the athletic club. My kids are going to start calling the women who work in the play-space there “Mom.” Seriously though, it is such an honor to be working for such an amazing company. Not only are their chocolates to-die-for, but they have the best packaging! I love that they use local products in their chocolates too, like Vermont maple syrup, honey and milk. Check out their website and get ready to drool.

Anyway, I haven’t had a ton of time to work on developing new recipes for my blog these last few weeks. So I thought I would use one of my previously published recipes this week. This one I did for the March/April issue of EatingWell last year. The ingredients are back in season now and I have been really craving it. Maybe after all those sweets I just needed something really healthy.

The creamy onion dressing takes a little more effort than your basic oil and vinegar, but it is really worth it. I wanted it to be sort of like French onion dip without all of the MSG and fat. I found that if you slowly caramelize sweet onion and thyme and then puree it with buttermilk and a little mayonnaise you can get away with using a lot less fat in the recipe overall. In fact, one serving has only 7 grams of fat (with only 2 saturated) and only 134 calories!

The beets are of course soooo good for you. Have I mentioned how much everyone in my family loves them? Including both of my daughters?! I used both red and golden, but either would work fine.

But I think the really crave-worthy part of this recipe is that it is garnished with crispy prosciutto chips. They are so easy to make. Just cut prosciutto into bite-sized pieces, brush them with oil and bake them. They are like salty little meat potato chips. I love the crunch of them with the earthy sweetness of the beets and onions.

Green Salad with Beets and Prosciutto Chips

Makes 6 servings, about 2 ¼ cup each. Active time: 50 minutes. Total Time: 50.

1 teaspoon plus 1 tablespoon extra-virgin olive oil, divided

4 slices prosciutto

1 bunch beets, about 12 ounces, preferably baby-sized, stems and greens removed

1 medium sweet onion, sliced

¼ teaspoon dry thyme

¼ teaspoon salt

¼ teaspoon freshly ground pepper

¼ cup non-fat buttermilk

2 tablespoons white wine vinegar

2 tablespoons mayonnaise

1 tablespoon chopped fresh chives

14 cup mixed salad greens

1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees F. Brush ½ teaspoon oil over a large baking sheet. Cut prosciutto into 1 to 1 1/2 –inch squares and place on the baking sheet. Brush the prosciutto with ½ teaspoon oil. Bake until crispy, 5 to 7 minutes. Carefully transfer the prosciutto chips to a wire rack with a spatula. (If you leave them on the baking sheet they won’t be as crisp.)
2. Meanwhile, place beets in a large saucepan with enough water to cover by at least 2 inches. Bring to a boil; reduce heat to maintain a gentle simmer and cook until tender when pierced with a fork, 20 to 30 minutes. (If using larger beets, they will take up to 40 minutes.) Drain and let stand until cool enough to handle. Trim both ends of the beets and rub off skins. Cut into wedges.
3. While the beets are cooking, combine onion with the remaining 1 tablespoon oil, thyme, salt and pepper in a small saucepan. Cover and cook over medium heat, stirring often for 10 minutes. Uncover and continue cooking until the onion is very soft and caramelized, 8 to 10 minutes more. (If the onion begins to brown before it becomes very soft, add water 1 tablespoon at a time.) Remove from heat cover and let stand for 10 minutes.
4. Stir the onions, scraping up any browned bits. Set aside ¼ cup of the onion and transfer the rest to a blender or food processor. Add buttermilk, vinegar, mayonnaise and chives. Puree until smooth.
5.   Toss salad greens, the reserved ¼ cup onion and the dressing in a large bowl. Divide among 4 plates. Top with beets and proscuitto chips.