- 2 trimmed medium red beets (about 3 1/2 inches in diameter; about 1 3/4 pounds), scrubbed
- 1 (4-inch) piece peeled ginger
- 1/3 cup fresh orange juice
- 1/4 teaspoon sugar
- 1 1/2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
- 2 large firm-ripe Anjou pears
- 1 bunch tarragon
- 1 cup mixed baby greens (preferably spicy)
- 1 Granny Smith apple
- Equipment: a 1-inch round cookie cutter
- Garnish: sea salt such as Maldon; poppy seeds
- Preheat oven to 450°F with rack in middle.
- Wrap beets in foil and roast until tender, about 1 1/2 hours. Let stand until cool enough to handle, then slice crosswise into 1/4-inch-thick rounds. Cool completely.
- Meanwhile, finely grate ginger with a Microplane over a kitchen-towel-lined bowl. Carefully gather towel around ginger and squeeze until you have 2 tablespoons ginger juice. Whisk in orange juice, sugar, and oil. Season with salt and pepper. Divide vinaigrette evenly between 2 small bowls.
- Cut pears lengthwise around core into 1/4-inch-thick slices. Cut out 18 rounds from slices using cookie cutter and put in one bowl of vinaigrette.
- Cut out 18 rounds from beet slices and put in other bowl. Toss pears and beets with vinaigrette to coat well.
- To assemble napoleons, put 1 beet round on each of 6 plates (see cooks' note, below) and top with a tarragon leaf. Top with 1 pear round, then another tarragon leaf. Repeat layering 2 more times. Discard vinaigrette used for beets.
- Toss greens with some of remaining vinaigrette and place around each napoleon. Finely grate apple (including skin) into a bowl. Spoon a heaping teaspoon apple on top of each napoleon, then sprinkle with sea salt and poppy seeds. Drizzle with more vinaigrette if desired.