On the side, we had a nice salad made of organic red leaf lettuce, organic pears, and organic golden beets. I picked up some beets the last time I was at Sigona’s and they had been sitting in my fridge for nearly a week waiting to get used. I don’t cook beets often and I wanted to do something more creative with them other than boiling them and putting them on a salad. Well, that didn’t happen this time, but I’ll keep an eye out for a recipe involving beets that doesn’t involve salad.

So the salad was really simple. A bed of leaf lettuce, some pears, the beets, and some toasted walnuts, pine nuts and pistachios, topped with my favorite vinaigrette:

Balsamic Dijon Vinaigrette

1 heaping tsp dijon mustard

1 tsp agave nectar

Splash of balsamic vinegar

Olive oil to taste

S&P to taste

In a small bowl, combine the mustard, agave nectar, balsamic vinegar and S&P. Whisk in enough olive oil to suit your taste. I prefer my vinaigrette dressings to be heavier on the vinegar and lighter on the olive oil, but feel free to adjust the quantities to your preferences.