Baby Beet and Blood Orange Salad {w/ recipes}

I love my husband. 

I love him more than I love any other person on this planet. 

I love and care for him more than I love or care about myself. 

I love how he understands me so well and how he can seriously read my mind sometimes. 

And I love how we can spend hours upon hours with each other, without doing anything "fun", 

and still have the best time of our life, just sitting, talking, laughing, and dreaming. 

But, there are times, when I enjoy being alone, i.e., without him. 

The times when he gets together with "the guys" and I stay home, alone.

I can blast Taylor Swift on the stereo, 

watch tv and read (at the same time), 

catch up on my favorite blogs, 

and spend hours editing HTML 

so that those little social media icons will actually work. 

Those times alone, by myself, I can also eat whatever I want. 

I don't have to worry about making something he will like, 

instead I can experiment with new recipes, 

I can add ingredients he doesn't like, 

such as olives or tomatoes, 

and I can make a meal which is nothing more 

than a medley of appetizers, because I can.

This, is one of those recipes. 

I'm quite sure that if I tried to serve this to Steven 

he would look at me like I had lobsters coming out of my ears. 

Especially if I tried to describe it. 

He'd likely think I'd spent one too many hours watching Chopped 

and was trying to create something out of the most ridiculous ingredients ever. 

But, that's my husband. He is an excellent cook, but he sticks to the recipes he knows. 

Me, on the other hand, I like to think things up and just go for it. 

I've been meaning to make something of these baby beets for awhile. 

They were steamed and prepackaged, sold at Trader Joe's.

I saw blood oranges at the market the other day and picked them up. 

How could I resist such a beautiful, brightly colored fruit? 

Fresh rainbow chard was in my fridge, perfect for juicing or to make as a side dish. 

Then, it all came together in my head. Of course, I'm sure I'm not the first to pair these together. The sweet and tartness of the blood oranges pairs perfectly with the beets. And their overall sweetness goes well with the slightly bitter raw chard. Tossed with a vinaigrette from the juice of the blood orange, and VOILA! There you have a perfect luncheon meal.

Baby Beet and Blood Orange Salad

salad

cooled, steamed baby beets

small blood oranges

fresh rainbow chard

goat cheese (optional)

dressing

2 parts - juice from blood orange

1 part - olive oil

salt and pepper to taste

1. Cut away the rinds of the blood oranges and slice into wedges. 

2. Slice the beets and cut to make a half moon shape. 

3. Cut and wash rainbow chard into bite size pieces. 

4. In a small bowl, mix two parts juice from blood oranges with 1 part olive oil. Salt and pepper to taste and toss with beets, blood oranges, and chard.

5. {optional} Top with crumbled goat cheese. 

Enjoy!