French Fridays with Dorie: Lime Honey Beet Salad

I'm sitting here on my couch, on a Friday afternoon, numb, physically and emotionally drained, and unable to cry any more tears at the moment. If you follow us on Facebook, you already know we said goodbye to Dooley, the Newf in My Soup, and the sweetest, most lovable companion you can imagine. It was one of the worst days of my life, sitting on the floor in the vet's office, with John and I both crying uncontrollably, as he was put to sleep. He lived a long, healthy 13+ years, but we could tell he was in pain those last few days, and we were in pain knowing we couldn't do anything more for him.

I took time off from work this week, and considered taking time off from the blog, but cooking and blogging are enjoyable and provide an escape. This week's French Fridays with Dorie Lime and Honey Beet Salad wasn't easy to get through. It's a simple recipe, but I didn't have Dooley with me, sprawled across the kitchen floor. As I prepared the salad, I purposely talked to him like I always did, and explained what I was doing along the way. After dinner, we gave Trapper extra hugs and kisses. Dooley's little half-brother has some big paws to fill, but I think he's up to the challenge.

The beets are roasted, allowed to cool, peeled, cut into wedges and tossed in a vinaigrette of cider vinegar, lime zest and juice, honey, olive oil, and minced chives and dill. Dorie suggests serving them on a bed of lightly dressed arugula and adding a dollop of crème fraîche or sour cream. I omitted the dill and crème fraîche and we enjoyed this salad with a grilled New York steak and corn on the cob.

Dooley and Trapper

French Fridays with Dorie is an online cooking group, dedicated to Dorie Greenspan‘s book Around My French Table: More Than 300 Recipes from My Home to Yours. As members of the group, we have purchased the cookbook and cook along as much as we can. There is a new recipe each week, and we post about that recipe on Friday. We are asked to refrain from posting the actual recipes on our blog. The book is filled with stunning photography, and personal stories about each recipe, which makes it that much more intriguing. I highly recommend adding it to your cookbook collection if you haven't already!

*Full Disclosure: I am a member of Amazon Affiliates and receive an extremely small commission if you link to Amazon from There's a Newf in My Soup and purchase this fabulous cookbook.