Sweet Sweetback's Salad with Roasted Beet Vinaigrette
Yield: 4 Servings
You bled my momma!
You bled my poppa!
(But you won't bleed ME!)
-- as echoed over Earth Wind, and Fire's music in the 1971 film Sweet Sweetback's Baadasssss Song
Last weekend I was in Los Angeles filming an episode for "Mario's Greenhouse," a television series that follows Mario Van Peebles, his wife, their five children, and his father (Melvin Van Peebles) as they renovate their home in an environmentally friendly manner and embrace a more sustainable lifestyle. I was thrilled to help Mario prepare a meal, but I was most excited to be in the presence of Melvin.
I created this salad not so much in honor of Melvin's cult classic Sweet Sweetback's Baadasssss Song, or the moving biopic directed by Mario, but more in honor of Melvin's influence on me as a creative person. In addition to being a screenwriter, director, actor, and film editor, Melvin's creative pursuits include being a painter, sculptor, children's book author, dancer, novelist, journalist, translator, composer, recording artist, playwright, Broadway producer and stockbroker. He is the first African American to hold a seat on the American Stock Exchange. And at 75 years old he's still going strong. In fact, he has a new film, Confessionsofa Ex-Doofus-Itchy-Footed Mutha, premiering at the Tribeca Film Festival April 27. Black genius indeed.
Like Sweetback, the protagonist of Sweet Sweetback's Baadasssss Song, this salad is bold (beets), bitter (argula), earthy (walnuts), and, sweet (pause) (agave-sugar).
Soundtrack
"30 Cops Or More" by Boogie Down Productions from Edutainment
"The Finest" MF DOOM from Operation Doomsday
"Come on Feet" by Quasimoto from The Unseen
"Hydrant Game" by Quasimoto from The Further Adventures of Lord Quas
Bonus Film Suggestion: How to Eat Your Watermelon In White Company (and Enjoy It) (2005), directed by Joe Angio. This documentary chronicles Melvin Van Peeble's astonishing career.
2 cups raw walnut halves
7 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
2 tablespoons and 1/2 teaspoon agave syrup
1/4 cup organic raw cane sugar
4 medium beets, scrubbed and tops trimmed but root tails intact
Coarse sea salt
Extra-virgin olive oil
3 tablespoons red wine vinegar
1/2 teaspoon Dijon Mustard
Freshly ground white pepper
3 large bunches arugula, trimmed and roughly chopped (6 to 7 cups)
· Preheat the oven to 350°F.
· Spread the walnuts on a large baking sheet and toast for 6 minutes, stirring halfway through the cooking. Remove from oven and cool.
· Transfer walnuts to a sieve and, holding the sieve over the sink, rub the walnuts against the wire until the skins loosen and fall off.
· Remove the walnuts to a large mixing bowl, combine with two tablespoons of olive oil, and stir until thoroughly coated. Add two tablespoons of the agave syrup and stir until thoroughly coated, then add the sugar and stir until thoroughly coated.
· Warm a large heavy cast-iron skillet to medium-high. Add the walnuts, scraping the bowl to remove everything, and stir constantly until the walnuts are fragrant and most of the liquid has evaporated, about 1 1/2 minutes.
· Transfer walnuts to parchment paper and quickly spread out, separating them with a fork and a spoon. Set aside to cool.
· Combine the beets, 3 quarts cold water, and 1 teaspoon salt in a medium pot over high heat. Boil uncovered for 20 to 30 minutes, or until the beets are easily pierced with a knife. Drain. Peel the beets by holding them under cold running water and rubbing their skins off with your fingers or a clean towel.
· Increase the oven's temperature to 400°F.
· Trim the tails off the bottom of the beets. Reserve two of them for the vinaigrette and compost the others. Cut the beets into 1/4-inch dice. In a medium bowl, toss the diced beets with 4 teaspoons of the olive oil. Transfer them to a parchment-lined baking sheet and roast for 15 minutes, stirring every 5 minutes to ensure even cooking. Remove the beets from the oven, scrape them back into the bowl, and toss with 2 tablespoons of red wine vinegar. Return to the baking sheet and cook for an additional 5 minutes. Set them aside to cool.
· In a blender, combine the reserved roasted beet tails with the remaining red wine vinegar, mustard, 1/2 teaspoon agave syrup, 1/4 teaspoon salt, and white pepper to taste. Blend while slowly pouring in 4 tablespoons olive oil. If needed, add more salt to taste.
· Place the arugula pieces in a large serving bowl, add the roasted beets on top, and add the glazed walnuts on top of that. Immediately before serving, toss well with just enough of the vinaigrette to coat.
Bryant Terry is an Oakland-based eco chef and a Food and Society Policy Fellow with the W. K. Kellogg and Fair Food foundations. He is co-author of 'Grub: Ideas for an Urban Organic Kitchen.'
Also on TheRoot.com
Rebirth Brunch: The Introduction
True Grits: Reclaiming Soul Food