Have You Ever Grated Raw Beet into Salad?

Last night for dinner I put together my weekly salad with cold pink salmon (Trader Joe’s Alaskan wild-caught, from a can, delicious and a bargain). Generally, just for me, in summer I add something like a diced Persian cucumber and half a sweet red pepper, two or three sliced green onions (all the way up), a handful of pitted Niçoise olives, and a few batons of cheese (last night it was cheddar). I was also lucky enough to have a luscious red heirloom tomato, which I cut in in small juicy knobs. At the bottom of my big wooden salad bowl was the bed of mixed greens, the sort I used to gather in my mountain garden but now I pick from a tub at the farmers’ market or shelf at Trader Joe’s. As I pulled out the jar of sort-of-Caesar dressing I’d made for my granddaughters on the weekend, I noticed the beets I’d bought to make my friend Danielle’s rapée but never got to. I took one, peeled it, and shredded it on the medium blade of the grater over the bowl. I dressed the salad, added a few turns of the mignonette pepper mill, and tossed with my hands. Boy, were the colors pretty—rosy pink, bright and dark red, purple, gold, black, orange, half a dozen hues of green. Took the bowl and my glass of wine—I was thrilled to find a Muscadet Sèvre et Maine Sur Lie at TJ’s, had not had Muscadet in years and although it’s perfect with fish, I’m afraid the Val de Loire vintner would blanch to find his delicate wine served with my salad mishmosh—to my accustomed dinner place (I’m ashamed to admit it’s the stool at the kitchen counter in front of my old Mac laptop, next to the television, I put a cloth napkin over the computer and set my plate or bowl on top, Gene would not approve). Turned on my recorded-from-earlier Charlie Rose and tucked in to my supper. Well, it was absolutely delicious with unexpected flashes of sweetness. No question that the surprises of sweet beet made it special... and it was so easy. It occurred to me that the possibilities of salad companions for grated raw beets are endless...starting with apples... walnuts...oranges...endive...fennel...carrots...cole slaw...cauliflower...celery root...sweet pickles...cold meats...marinated herring...certainly potatoes... white beans...lentils...avocados...hard cooked eggs...asparagus...green beans...bean sprouts...raw shreds of summer squashes...sprinklings of caraway, cilantro or chervil... Gotta go now, but oh my!