Beet Tacos

Preheat oven to 375 F.

Wrap the beets in foil and roast in a 375 F oven for 1 – 1.5 hours until tender and pierced easily with a knife. Remove from oven and allow to cool. Lower oven temp to 300 F. When the beets are cool, peel off the skin and dice the flesh into small, bite-sized pieces. Season with a bit of salt. Set aside.

Spread walnuts onto a baking tray. Toast the walnuts in a 300 F oven for 5-8 minutes or until fragrant. Remove and let cool.

In a food processor, pulse the parsley, shallot, and jalapeno until roughly chopped. Add the cooled walnuts, oil, vinegar and a pinch of salt and pepper and pulse another 2-3 times until everything is combined and roughly chopped. You want to keep it a bit chunky so that you still get the texture of the walnuts in the taco. You can also make the salsa by hand. Chop everything by hand, add it to a bowl, and stir in the oil, vinegar, salt and pepper. Adjust the seasoning by adding more vinegar, salt or pepper to taste.

Heat your tortillas. You can do this in one of several ways: In a dry pan over medium-high heat until pliable but still a little chewy. Or you can place the tortillas directly over a gas flame to give it a little char. Use tongs or chopsticks to avoid burning your fingers. Or you can reheat them in the microwave, wrapped in a damp paper towel for about 15-20 seconds.

Assemble your tacos by laying your diced beets in a row down the middle of the tortilla. These can be reheated easily in the microwave or in a dry pan if you want the beets hot. Top the beets with some walnut salsa verde and crumbled queso fresco.