I’m a beet lover. I’m sure you could tell. I haven’t gone so far as to make a beet chocolate cake (yet) but I do love a good beet juice, beet kombucha, and this… gorgeous beet salad.
This salad has a fantastic dressing! I want to make this orange dressing for other salads too, but it really works here to brighten up the earthy beet.
Goat cheese and walnuts add texture contrast and good little “nuggets” to find as you’re eating this salad. This is one of those salads that could easily be dinner in my house, just add a little chicken or some toasted bread! I think for a mom lunch it would also be perfect.
The only thing about this salad: you’ve got to roast those beets! The two colors, golden and red, offer color and flavor depth. Golden beets are sweeter then red beets, so if you’ve got someone that might not love beets, GO FOR THE GOLD! (sorry, had to do that.) But they are much easier to please more choosey palates.
I’ve also found that the trick with salads is, put on a ton of different toppings! It makes it more interesting and filling, and you don’t feel like you are eating a bowl full of lettuce. Add different vegetables, fruits and a little cheese and nuts or seeds, and it feels like a meal! Salads can be fun, and filling!
I also made a crisp winter salad. Oh, and you know that bread I mentioned? Focaccia goes great with salad!
- 2 large beets, one red and one golden or both the same, scrubbed and trimmed tops
- 2 navel oranges
- 1 tablespoon olive oil, plus more for cooking the beets
- 1 tablespoon white wine vinegar
- 1 teaspoon Dijon mustard
- coarse salt and pepper
- 2 large handfuls mixed field greens, spinach or arugula
- 5 ounces goat cheese, crumbled
- 1/3 cup toasted walnuts*
- 1/4 cup fresh dill, roughly chopped
- Preheat the oven to 450 degrees. Place a square of aluminum foil underneath each beet. Drizzle a tiny bit of oil on each one and sprinkle with a dash of salt and pepper. Wrap the foil around each beet so that it is completely covered, and place on a baking sheet in the preheated oven. Bake for 45 to 50 minutes, until the tip of a sharp knife easily pierces the beet. Let cool and cut into wedges. You can also slip the peels off by rubbing the skin with your hands or a paper towel. Wear latex gloves to avoid the red-stained hands of a beet lover.
- Make the dressing and slice the oranges: over a small bowl, zest each orange. Slice both ends of one of the orange off and cut away the orange peel and the pith. Cut the orane segments off, using a pairing knife, and place the orange segments in aside while you collect any juice into the bowl with the zest. Squeeze the membranes of the orange to get all the juice and you can carefully pour in any collected juice from the segments that has fallen to the bottom of their bowl as well.
- In the bowl with the juice and zest, mix in the olive oil, white wine vinegar, mustard and season with a little salt and pepper
- Assemble the salad: you can toss the dressing with the salad now, or wait until just before serving if you are preparing this recipe ahead of time. In a large bowl or on salad plates, lay down a bed of greens, arrange some beet wedges, orange segments and crumbled goat cheese. Top with toasted walnuts and a scattering of the fresh dill. Drizzle dressing over the salad and serve.