Roasted Beet Salad
Beets are an amazing vegetable! Not only is their color vibrant, but they also are packed with nutrition. When they are so abundant and fresh in the summer, I love to make a Roasted Beet Salad with goat cheese and pine nuts. It's a simple salad, but so satisfying.
Ingredients
- 4 golden beets washed and trimmed of the greens
- 4 red beets washed and trimmed of the greens
- 10-12 ounces mixed lettuce leaves
- ¼ cup red onion cut into slices from root to stem, then separated
- 4 ounces fresh goat cheese
- ¼ cup pine nuts
- olive oil
- balsamic vinegar See notes
Instructions
- To prepare the beets, wash them, cut the greens off, then put them in a parchment-lined aluminum foil packet. Place the packet in a baking dish and bake at 450°F for about an hour. The time it takes to cook will vary widely based on the size of the beets. Start checking after 30-45 minutes. Use a toothpick, cake tester, or tip of a knife. You should be able to insert it easily.
- Allow the beets to cool completely, then take the peel off. If they are well cooked, the skin will often just slide right off. Slice into ¼-inch slices.
- Toss the onion pieces with the lettuces and arrange them on a platter. Put the beet slices around the edges and the goat cheese down the middle. Drizzle with good-quality olive oil and balsamic vinegar. Sprinkle with pine nuts and season with salt.
- Serve immediately.
Notes
I like to use both golden and red beets, but of course, you can use only one variety if you like.
If you can find a really good, aged balsamic vinegar like this Denissimo Dark Balsamic Vinegar from Lively Olive, you can get by with only drizzling your salad with olive oil and the vinegar. However, if the only balsamic vinegar you can find is a bit too much on the "vinegar-y" side, you might prefer a vinaigrette like this: ¾ cup oil, ¼ cup vinegar, a bit of Dijon mustard, salt and pepper.
Pro Tip: if you don't wear gloves, your fingers will definitely get stained by the beet juice. It wears away quickly, but if you use lemon juice and salt to scrub your hands, it will go away even more quickly.
Tried this recipe?Let us know how it was!