Beets! This root vegetable makes a delicious and nutritious salad, especially in fall and winter. Boiling is the most common way of cooking beets for salad. However, beets are messy to boil. The solution is to bake them and also to arrange parchment paper on the baking dish so that it's easier to clean. You can combine the greens to be used and you could also add pistachios to the salad. The beets go really well with walnuts and the goat cheese goes well with pistachios. You could also add feta or substitute the goat cheese for feta. Enjoy putting the salad together. Make it yours!
Ingredients:
3 beets
2 cloves garlic, peeled and cut in half
salt and pepper to taste
olive oil
white balsamic vinegar
2 cloves garlic, peeled and cut in half
salt and pepper to taste
olive oil
white balsamic vinegar
lemon juice
some dried oregano
some dried oregano
some walnuts, roasted
mint leaves
goat cheese, cut in bite-sized pieces
arugula or lettuce or both
one small, red onion -- slice and place in a bowl of cold water, then place the bowl in the refrigerator until it's time for the onions to go on top of the beets. This way, the onions will have a very nice crunch.
Directions:
- Slice the onion and place the slices in a bowl of cold water, then place the bowl in the refrigerator and leave it there until it's time for the onions to go on top of the beets. This way, the onions will have a very nice crunch.
- Preheat the oven to 375 F.
- Cut off the leaves and wash the beets. Peel them and cut them in half.
- Choose a baking dish with a cover and line the bottom and sides with parchment paper. Add the beets and the garlic, season with salt and pepper, sprinkle with olive oil, cover and bake for about forty minutes until the beets are soft.
- Take them out of the oven and let them cool until they can be handled. Discard the garlic pieces and cut the beets into slices.
- Make a vinaigrette using Dijon mustard, lemon juice, salt and pepper, dried oregano, white balsamic vinegar and olive oil.
- Toss the beets with the dressing, cover them and place them in the refrigerator for at least an hour.
- When ready to serve, take the onions out of the refrigerator and drain well.
- Arrange some arugula or lettuce on a serving platter and top these greens with the beet/vinaigrette mixture.
- Decorate the salad with chopped mint leaves, goat cheese, sliced cold red onions, and some chopped roasted walnuts.
