Bewildered by beets no more...

I spend way too much money on magazine subscriptions that tend to go unread, so my mission this weekend was to catch up on my reading. I made it through 3 editions of Natural Heath and 2 months of Cooking Light and am I glad I did. I stumbled upon a wonderful recipe for a nice summer salad. Cumin rubbed steak and root vegatable salad. It was a hard sell, but I got my mom and hubby to agree to try it for dinner this evening. My hubby seemed to enjoy it, but my mom didn't eat any of the root veggies so she basically had a steak salad. Her loss. I don't know about you readers, but beets are a veggie I've always loved, but have been scared to try fresh, so this was my first adventure with fresh beets and it wasn't so scary afterall. I wonder if I could grow some next year? All this research on organic fruits and veggies is making me want to map out plans for a garden next year. Anyway, here is the recipe and I hope you enjoy it as much as I did.

CUMIN-RUBBED STEAK
AND ROASTED ROOT VEGETABLE SALAD
Total Recipe Time: 1 to 1¼ hours
Serves: 4

4 beef tenderloin steaks, cut ¾ inch thick (about 4 oz each)
1 lb beets, trimmed, peeled, cut into eighths (cut into quarters, if small)
½ cup water
2 sweet potatoes, peeled, cut into 1½ x 1-inch pieces
3 shallots, peeled, cut lengthwise in half (about 5 oz)
1-½ tsp olive oil
½ tsp sea or kosher salt
1-½ tsp ground cumin
½ tsp coarse grind black pepper
8 cups mixed salad greens
Sea salt

Sweet Beet Vinaigrette:
2 Tbsp reserved beet cooking liquid
1 Tbsp sherry vinegar
2 tsp brown sugar
½ tsp sea or kosher salt
1½ Tbsp olive oil

Heat oven to 425°F. Place beets in small roasting pan or 9-inch metal baking pan; drizzle with water. Cover pan tightly with aluminum foil. Place sweet potatoes and shallots on 15x10 inch metal baking pan. Drizzle with 1½ teaspoons oil and sprinkle with 1/2 teaspoon salt; toss to coat. Roast vegetables in 425°F oven for 30 minutes or until tender.

Remove beets from pan; reserve 2 tablespoons cooking liquid for vinaigrette. Loosely cover vegetables. Set aside.

Combine cumin and pepper; press evenly onto beef steaks. Heat a large nonstick skillet over medium heat until hot. Place top sirloin steak in skillet; cook 7 to 9 minutes for medium rare (145°F) to medium (160°F) doneness, turning occasionally. Remove to platter; keep warm.

Meanwhile, to prepare Sweet Beet Vinaigrette, combine all ingredients except oil in small bowl; gradually whisk in oil until blended.

Arrange salad greens on serving plates or platter. Top with roasted vegetables; drizzle with vinaigrette. Carve steaks into slices. Season with salt, as desired. Arrange over salad.

Nutrition information per serving: 400 calories; 15 g fat(4 g saturated fat; 8 g monounsaturated fat); 67 mg cholesterol; 783 mg sodium; 38 g carbohydrate; 7.9 g fiber; 31 g protein; 7.9 mg niacin; 0.7 mg vitamin B6; 1.4 mcg vitamin B12; 5.0 mg iron; 29.5 mcg selenium; 5.4 mg zinc.