Last night’s grocery run left me with an array of ingredients, but little idea of how they’d become a meal. Here’s one particularly successful, improvised dish that took all of 5 minutes’ prep work!

Winter Slaw with Beets:

1 bunch beets, all approx. same size
1 bulb celery root, halved
1 apple (I used Braeburn)
4-6oz coconut greek yogurt
handful of roasted almonds
olive oil, salt, and pepper to taste

Trim stems and greens from beets and put them, unwashed, into a small covered baking dish with about 1/4″ water. Bake at 425° until beets can be pierced by a fork (15-20 min). Remove from oven, put in sink, run cold water over them until you can handle them. Use your hands to just rub off the beet skins and voila! Chop or dice, toss with olive oil, salt, and pepper.

While the beets roast, chop celery root in half (save half for some other time). Peel the half in front of you, rinse, and toss in your food processor. Add peeled and cored apple, a handful of almonds, and a splash of lemon juice, pulsing on “chop” until it’s a nice texture for slaw. Stir in coconut yogurt, let sit until it’s needed, top with beets.

Congrats! You’re a dinner hero. And if you have a guest who loves pink, just stir this all up and let it sit for a few minutes… you’ll have a bright pink side dish that banishes winter blues.