Pressure Cooker Orange Scented Beet Salad

I developed this beet salad for Cooking Light magazine way back in the late 1990s. It's still a winner today. You'll get the idea of how easy it is to use the pressure cooker. to make this recipe.

Pictured here are gold and chioggia beets but red ones work just as well, albeit a bit messier.

Beets in just 3 minutes? Yes, slice them thin. And if they're young, you don't need to peel them. At least I don''t, This recipe is perfect for this time of year when citrus is at its peak.

This recipe appears in my cookbook The Veggie Queen: Vegetables Get the Royal Treatment and will also be in my pressure cooking cookbook that will be released later this year.

Orange Scented Beet Salad

Makes 4 1 cup servings of beets plus ½ cup greens

3 minutes high pressure; 7 minute natural pressure release

Cooking beets has never been easier. They become so tender that you don’t even need to peel them.

1 ½    pounds beets, about 6 medium or more small (smaller is usually better)

½      cup freshly squeezed orange juice

2        tablespoons cider vinegar

3        large slices orange zest from organic oranges

2        tablespoons brown sugar, Sucanat or agave syrup

2        teaspoons Dijon mustard

2        teaspoons orange zest

2        green onions, sliced

2        cups spicy greens like arugula, mustard or a mix, washed and dried

Scrub beets. Remove tops, stems and tails and cut in half. Then cut into ¼-inch slices.

Put the orange juice, vinegar and the large slices of orange zest into the cooker. Add the beet slices. Lock on the lid. Bring the pressure to high over high heat. Reduce the heat to maintain high pressure for 3 minutes. Remove the pot from the heat. Let the pressure come down naturally for 7 minutes, then release any remaining pressure.

Remove the lid, tilting it away from you. Remove the large pieces of orange zest. Stir in the brown sugar and mustard.

Remove the beets from the cooking liquid and let cool for 5 minutes. Mix the orange zest and green onions with the beets. Pour the liquid from the cooker over the beets. Spoon ¼ of the mixture onto ½ cup of spicy greens on individual salad plates. Or you may chill the beets, without the zest and green onions, and let sit in the liquid for a day or two. Right before serving stir in the orange zest and green onions.

This photo is the undressed (naked) salad.