For anyone who has only had canned beets, fresh beets are a revelation. This salad was a big hit last week. It’s very simple, in fact, only has 4 ingredients!
Roasted Beet and Goat Cheese Salad
6 Fresh Beets (roasted)
4-6 oz Goat Cheese
Fresh Basil
Vinaigrette (your favorite recipe or bottled brand)
Cut off the stems and the root ends from the beets and wash with cool water. (Tip: working with beets is less messy if you wear latex or vinyl gloves) No need to peel the beets yet. There is a cool trick I’ll tell you about in a sec.
Preheat the oven to 400 degrees
Wrap the beets in foil and place on a sheet tray. Roast in the oven for 45-minutes to an hour. Test with the tip of the knife. If it slides in with only just a bit of resistance, that’s done!
Unwrap the foil and allow the beets to cool for about 10 minutes. Here’s the peeling trick: Put back on your latex gloves and simply rub the skin off each beet with a paper towel! Tada!
This salad can be served warm or cold. I prefer to serve cold, it’s really refreshing. But, if you’re the warm beet type, after peeling the roasted beets slice them into wedges, dress with 1/2 cup of your vinaigrette. Place on a serving plate/bowl and top with the crumbled goat cheese and chopped basil.
If you’d like to try the cold version, chill the beets in the fridge before you assemble the salad.