Me and beets. It’s a new relationship that I’m just beginning to explore but this Sweet and Tangy Roasted Beet Salad has taken it one step further.
You see, when your only exposure to beets as a child was pickled red beet eggs, well, it kinda taints your view of them. For many years I kept them off my plate with all the cooked carrots. Similar textures, ya know. I outgrew the carrot thing a long time ago but beets, well, beets might be one of those relationships I force myself into because I know it’s good for me.
If you’re one of the people that love beets then I’m sure you’ll love this! Me, I’m beginning to like them. LIKE. And I’ll keep trying because these powerhouse veggies have so many things going for them, I feel like I’m missing out by not eating them more.
If you’re like me and you just don’t get the beets, then try this recipe I shared a while ago. It’a great introductory beet recipe – Beet Chips.
I was so excited to try this recipe because all these beets came from my garden. It was a banner year for the Chioggas and the Lutz beets did very well too. The golden beets were tiny but I think that’s because the seed was several years old and losing vitality.
This recipe will work with any beets but I love the tri-colored thing going on here. They really are beautiful which is what keeps me growing them year after year, despite our rocky relationship.
Feel free to add pretty much any kind of greens here. Romaine, Spring Mix, even spinach would work with this salad. I added just a touch of greenery for texture. You could certainly leave it out and toss the beets, cheese and walnuts together too. Just remember, if you use red beets, they will turn everything pink. 😉
- For the walnuts:
- 2 cups of soaked and dried walnuts (raw walnuts will work too)
- 2 Tbls. ghee (or butter)
- ½ c. brown sugar
- Place walnuts in a bowl and drizzle with melted ghee.
- Coat nuts thoroughly with ghee.
- Sprinkle half the sugar on the nuts and coat.
- Heat skillet to medium and add nuts coated with sugar.
- Continue stirring until the sugar begins to melt on the nuts.
- Add remaining sugar and continue to stir, coating all the nuts until the sugar is melted and nuts are covered.
- Remove from heat and pour out onto parchment paper to cool.
- Break apart once cool and use on salad. (or, eat by the handfuls!)
- For the Dressing:
- 3 ml avocado oil or EVOO
- 1 ml white wine vinegar
- 1 Tbls. sugar or Lacanoto (sugar replacement)
- 1 Tbls. mayonnaise
- 1 t. Dijon mustard
- ¼ tsp. onion powder
- ¼ tsp. garlic powder
- Blend all with a stick blender or in a countertop blender until well mixed.
- For the Salad:
- 6 cups of any mixture of beets, cubed
- 1 Tbls. avocado oil
- salt and pepper to taste
- Heat oven to 400˚.
- Place beets in large bowl and drizzle oil on top.
- Thoroughly coat beets with oil then salt and pepper them.
- (If you're using different types of beets and want to retain color integrity, roast each variety on a separate pan. It will keep color from bleeding onto the lighter beets.)
- Roast until beets are tender, about 20 minutes.
- Remove from oven and allow to cool.
- (See recipe for dressing and nuts to finish salad)
- Sprinkle with feta cheese to finish.