ojai pixie beet salad

(Gerry Furth-Sides) It’s magical Ojai Pixie Tangerine season. Sweet as a tangerine, and consistently so, but just the right endearing size for a satisfying snack, a breakfast side dish, salad OR the squeeze of citrus on a salad to make it pop.

The tangerines pair naturally with beets for their contrasting color and somewhat surprising, earthy taste that remains the same in all colors, and is from the geosmin in beets – surprising because it is also responsible for that fresh soil scent in your garden following a spring rain.

We start with a simple beet salad using Melissa’s Produce washed, steamed, shrink-wrapped beets in a box, red onion, walnuts and seasoning black pepper grinders.

Then we add pixie tangerines and blue cheese to counteract the distinctive, consistent sweetness of the Ojai Pixies.

Our dressing is simply a generous sprinkle of the wonderful Hatun lemon extra virgin olive oil, a gift from @table conversation, and rice vinegar with a dash of coarse salt and ground black pepper for our dressing. We also suggest using roasted, shredded chicken and oven-roasted rinds of the pixies for a surprising complement of flavors and textures.

The clear EVOO complemented the sweet pixies. Türkiye has grown to become one of the top 5 producers of olives and olive oils in the world. This can be attributed in part to the Mediterranean climate and because central Anatolia is rumoured to be the birthplace of the humble olive tree.

Melissa’s Test Kitchen Tom Fraker’s recipe is as follows:

• 1 package Melissa’s Peeled Baby Red Beets
• 1/4 cup Balsamic Vinegar
• 6 Ojai Pixie Tangerines, peeled and sectioned
• Arugula leaves (we used baby greens, washed, from the market
• 2 tablespoons Organic Blue Agave Syrup
• 1/4 cup Red Wine Vinegar
• Kosher Salt to taste
• Freshly Ground Black Pepper to taste

Directions

Preheat oven to 425ºF.

In a bowl, drizzle the balsamic vinegar over the beets and toss to coat.

Spread the beets in a single layer on a cookie sheet and roast in the oven, turning halfway through, until slightly browned; about 5 minutes, total.

Remove from the oven and let cool.

Meanwhile, combine all of the ingredients for the vinaigrette.

Mix well.

In a large mixing bowl, gently combine the beets and tangerines and pour the vinaigrette over the top.

Toss gently and serve over arugula or mixed greens

The tangerines are picked as close to packing as possible so that customers receive  them within two days.  They are put in 1000 pound bins.   With the smaller number of growers aiming for flavor, the high natural sugar content ranges from 13% to a whopping 17%.  

Even the origin of the Pixie Tangerine is shrouded in a bit of mystery. Scientific literature says that the Pixie Tangerine is “a second generation hybrid (or possibly a self) obtained from open pollination of an F1 hybrid called a Kincy,” meaning that the “seed parent” was a tangerine variety called a Kincy (a cross between a Dancy and a King).  Still,  no one has identified the pollen parent.

The fun part of the pixie story is its season moving to the spring. At the time of its release in 1965 “tangerine season” was considered to be around Christmas time. So the Pixie came ripe at a time when no one was expecting to buy or sell tangerines. 

For more information about Pixie tangerines, go to www.melissas.com.