Roasted Beet Salad with Blue Cheese

The Salad Preheat oven to 350° F. Place the beets in a baking pan, drizzle with oil, and season with salt. Cover with foil. Bake for about 1 hour, or until tender when pierced with a knife. While the beets are roasting, make the dressing. When cool enough to handle, peel the beets, and thinly slice them into rounds. Arrange on a serving platter and drizzle with the dressing. In a large bowl, toss the spinach with the remaining dressing and place spinach on top of beets in the center of the platter. Remove the wedge of blue cheese from the freezer. Using a microplane grater, grate the desired amount over the salad. Garnish with toasted almonds. The Dressing In a 1-quart non-reactive saucepan, over medium-high heat, reduce the orange juice to about ¾ cup. Add the lemon juice. Remove from the heat and strain with a fine sieve. (Honestly, if this is too much of a pain- I wouldn’t really worry about it and just continue on.) Return to the saucepan; add lemon juice, salt and pepper. Over medium heat, reduce until the mixture bubbles and has a syrup-like consistency. You should have about ¼ cup. Remove from the heat and strain again. (Again, if you don’t mind pulp in your dress. If you are strapped for time- don’t worry about it.) Let cool to room temperature. Add the olive oil. Set aside. (Can be stored in refrigerator for up to 1½ weeks.)