Beet Salad with Black Garlic Vinaigrette Recipe

Even raw, beets are a wonderfully sweet vegetable. Sweet and funky black garlic bridges the gap between them and a very lime-based vinaigrette. Blending the black garlic into the dressing makes it, well, ugly, but lets the flavor really permeate the salad. If mom is coming over for dinner, cut the garlic into small chunks and let them stud your salad like little black jewels.

I made this salad with my trusty Benriner mandolin, as I lack the patience and knife skills to julienne by hand. A grater or food processor won't produce the same crunchy texture, but use what you've got. Since the beets are raw, they're far less likely to spill their juices and stain everything around them (but they still probably will).

I like this salad heavily dressed, but you may want to start by adding only part of the vinaigrette to the beets and adding more as necessary.