now that we've got that out of the way, i love this salad. i don't love all salad and i don't eat salad everyday. and usually what i really love about salad is the dressing...which is the worst part of most salads. but this salad actually has healthy, delicious dressing too!
i can now say a happy farewell to my standby salad of the past (romaine, red pepper, cucumber and feta with greek dressing) and hello to the future of life changing salads...
...without any further ado, here it is.
roasted beet and arugula salad with goat cheese
and the recipe:
ingredients:
- 1/4 cup balsamic vinegar
- 3 tablespoons shallots, thinly sliced
- 1 tablespoon honey
- 1/3 cup extra-virgin olive oil
- Salt and freshly ground black pepper
- 6 medium beets, cooked and quartered
- 6 cups fresh arugula
- 1/4 cup dried cranberries or dried cherries
- 1/2 avocado, peeled, pitted, and cubed
- 3 ounces soft fresh goat cheese, coarsely crumbled
- a handful of pumpkin seeds
directions:
Line a baking sheet with foil. Preheat the oven to 450 degrees F.
Whisk the vinegar, shallots, and honey in a medium bowl to blend.
Gradually whisk in the oil. Season the vinaigrette, to taste, with salt
and pepper. Toss the beets in a small bowl with enough dressing
to coat. Place the beets on the prepared baking sheet and roast until
the beets are slightly caramelized, stirring occasionally, about 12
minutes. Set aside and cool.
Toss the arugula and cranberries in a large bowl with enough vinaigrette to coat. Season the salad, to taste, with salt and pepper. Mound the salad atop 4 plates. Arrange the beets around the salad. Sprinkle with the avocado, pumpkin seeds and goat cheese, and serve.
Toss the arugula and cranberries in a large bowl with enough vinaigrette to coat. Season the salad, to taste, with salt and pepper. Mound the salad atop 4 plates. Arrange the beets around the salad. Sprinkle with the avocado, pumpkin seeds and goat cheese, and serve.
You had me at goat cheese! Avocado is an added bonus! Delicious! Will definitely give this a try!
ReplyDeleteoh i love goat cheese too! so tangy and creamy. let me know what you think if you try it!
DeleteI love salads! I do, I do! This one looks great!
ReplyDeleteit's great. it makes me love salad again.
DeleteThis looks delicious!! I had a beet salad once with mandarin oranges in it and it was excellent too. Usually I eat a lot of Cobb salads but this looks worth the try!
ReplyDeleteooooo, mandarins would be really good with the beets. i'll have to try that.
DeleteOh, man, I am so jealous of anyone who is able to throw back this delicious-looking salad and think nothing of it. I love beets, but let's just say my digestive system does not (a lesson learned at the expense of many a delectable beet salad - for a time I was heading straight for the beet salad offering at every restaurant in Vancouver). I've had to ration myself to a quarter-beet per serving.
ReplyDeleteAnother absolutely delicious and dead simple way to roast the beets is to gently wipe them down with a paper towel, unpeeled (don't wash; they'll get water logged), dry roast them at 400 in the oven for an hour until they get tender and concentrated, then peel the skin off when cooled. it should slide off easily. Wear plastic or latex gloves when doing this to avoid staining your hands. Cube and serve the beets in the salad, tossed with a vinaigrette of course! I find this makes the flavour the most concentrated and beets the most sweet of any method I have tried.
Also, the first version of a beet salad I ever had was very memorable, in that it also contained (on a base of baby greens) red-wine poached figs, goat cheese, golden beets instead of red, and candied walnuts. To make candied walnuts, melt a mixture of 50% white sugar and 50% brown sugar in a saucepan on low. Toss previously roasted walnut chunks into the saucepan and stir to coat, then spread out the candy on parchment paper and let cool. Avoid eating all the walnuts as they are(though it's tempting) and put 'em on the salad with the beets - not very healthy but absolutely delicious.
I do, I do! I love salad! And I am NOT SKINNY! lol LOVE this recipe, my mouth is watering!!
ReplyDeleteThis salad is fantastic! I made it for dinner last night, and Ryan and I loved it. Thanks for sharing!
ReplyDeleteMary A.