Beet and Sardine salad

My co-worker is not a beet eater and every year, to my delight, she brings me the beets from her CSA. My garden beets are just a bit slow (they aren't in the sunniest garden spot) and aren't quite ready yet, so these were a treat. While perusing the beet section in Tender, I came across a recipe for beets and marinated mackerel. I used it as inspiration to make something simpler - with sardines and a bit of arugula added in. Nigel Slater says that oily fish (sardines, mackerel and herring) are a perfect accompaniment to beets, and based on this dish I agree!

Spring beets are so nice and small, you can boil them on the stove top and they are ready in 20-30 minutes. They peel easily after they cool - just use your thumbs and fingers to press off the beet skin and watch your fingers turn pink. Once the beets are made, this is a super quick salad. I ended up using some of my pickled onions, but regular ones would work too. I also had purchased a tin of Bela sardines (the Wedge carries them) - usually I get the Wild Planet ones - and wanted to try them for a taste comparison. (The Bela's are the fave from Nom Nom Paleo.) They definitely look different than the Wild Planet sardines, and they tasted delicious. I don't know that I could tell a difference by taste alone between the two products though, and the Bela's cost a bit more for fewer ounces.

Beet and Sardine Salad
3 small beets, cooked/boiled and peeled
handful arugula, chopped
fresh dill, chopped
pickled (or regular red onions), sliced thin
one tin sardines packed in lemon olive oil
juice of half lemon
1 t dijon mustard
salt and pepper

Slice beets thickly and arrange on a plate over arugula. Remove sardines from tin, reserving olive oil, and lay sardines and onions on salad. Mix sardine olive oil, lemon juice, dill, mustard and salt and pepper together and pour over salad.

This tasted really good - the beets were sweet and almost creamy tasting with the sardines. I also think you could forgo the arugula entirely. It wasn't necessary, though I enjoyed it as a surface with which to eat more of the dressing on. Next time, I will go straight up beets and no lettuce - the simplicity is appealing to really taste the strong flavors.