Roasted Beets with Tahini and Pine Nuts

1. To learn how to roast, peel and prepare your beets, click here. Roasting takes 1-2 hours depending on the size of your beets. Before preparing the salad they should be peeled and allowed to return to room temperature (this step can be done 1-2 days ahead).
2. To make the tahini dressing, combine tahini paste, lukewarm water, lemon juice and heaping 1/2 tsp salt together in a food processor or blender till sauce is creamy and ivory-colored. A food processor is the easiest way to make this sauce; scrape the sides of the processor periodically during processing. If using a blender, you may need to use a long-handled spoon to break up the thick part of the sauce once every 30 seconds; this will keep it from clogging your blender blades. After a few minutes of blending, sauce will turn into a rich, smooth paste. Slowly add more water, continuing to blend until it reaches the consistency of a thick salad dressing. Taste often during the blending process; add more lemon juice or salt, if desired. With this recipe you will end up with some extra tahini sauce; keep it in a sealed Tupperware container for up to a week. It goes great on salads or as a sauce to fish or chicken. You can also make this sauce 1-2 days ahead. It may thicken in the refrigerator, but can easily be brought back to the proper texture by stirring in a little warm water.

To Assemble Salads:

1. Mound ½ cup of greens onto each salad plate. Slice one roasted beet per plate and lay it on top of the greens. Sprinkle the beets lightly with salt. Pour 1-2 tbsp tahini sauce over the top of each sliced beet, then sprinkle each beet with 1 tbsp toasted pine nuts (if you have a nut allergy, feel free to omit the pine nuts). Serve immediately.