Orange Aioli With Grains and Roasted Beets

Ingredients

• 2 organic oranges
• 1 whole egg
• 1 teaspoon Dijon mustard
• 2 large garlic cloves, green shoots removed, mashed in a mortar and pestle with 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 2 to 3 teaspoons fresh lemon juice (to taste)
• 1/2 cup canola oil
• 1/4 cup extra virgin olive oil
• 1 or 2 bunches red, yellow or chioggia beets, the beets roasted, the greens stemmed, washed and steamed or blanched just until tender
• Cooked wheat berries, bulgur, barley or quinoa

Instructions

1. Preheat the oven to 250 degrees. Using a potato peeler, remove the orange zest, without the pith, from the oranges, and place on a baking sheet in the oven for 45 minutes or until completely dried. Check often, and be careful that it doesn’t burn. Allow the peel to cool, then grind in a spice mill. Measure out 1 tablespoon.
2. Mash the garlic in a mortar and pestle with the salt, and add 1 teaspoon of the lemon juice. Let sit for 10 minutes. This will soften the sharpness of the garlic.
3. Place the egg in a food processor fitted with the steel blade. Add the mustard, and turn on the machine. When the egg is frothy, begin to slowly drizzle in the canola oil and then the olive oil with the machine running. Stop the machine, and add the garlic, remaining lemon juice and orange peel. Process until well blended. Taste, adjust salt and remove to a bowl. Serve with roasted beets, peeled and cut in wedges or sliced, their cooked greens, and cooked bulgur, barley, quinoa or wheat berries.
4. Yield (aioli): 1 cup, serving six to eight.
5. Advance preparation: The beets and greens will keep for four or five days in the refrigerator. The aioli will keep for about three days.