You Can't Beet This Salad for Healthy Eating!

I love beets!

My love for them began when I was pregnant for my son 14 1/2 years ago. I actually craved them. I would buy them and boil them for the hours they took to cook, salivating just waiting for them to be done!

Then Dr. Oz came on the scene with his healthy eating tips and shared a salad that was made with beets and goat cheese. Well, I never made that because of the goat cheese. Then I went to a funky cafe in a funky part of the city near me and had almost that exact salad.

That is when I fell in love with goat cheese!

So when my husband gave me Lidia's Favorite Recipes cookbook recently I was thrilled that she had a beet salad recipe in there. I had to try it this time, knowing though that I was probably going to eat it all alone.......my husband and son wouldn't even think of trying it! So, I invited my girlfriend Bonnie over for lunch, making sure she liked the ingredients, and I made it. Her husband wouldn't ever try it either! It was delish! Definitely a girls luncheon kind of salad.

Since then I have made it a few times just for myself with a few changes here and there. It makes about 4 meals, so I was eating it for every meal till it was gone! When Bonnie came over I replaced the sliced apple with sliced cucumber because she can't have apples. I used only the red beets, which are so sweet, but they tend to throw a lot of their color on to everything. I also added swiss chard to the greens. When I made it for myself I added chopped walnuts which gave it just enough crunch!



This is the full recipe in one of those large pasta dishes!

Roasted Beet and Beet Greens Salad with Apples and Goat Cheese

 

 

Serves 6

 

10 to 12 small yellow and red beets with greens and stems attached (about 3 pounds)

1/2 teaspoon salt

1/3 cup extra virgin olive oil

1/3 cup balsamic vinegar

Freshly ground black pepper to taste

1 medium tart, crisp apple

4 oz. aged goat cheese
1/2 cup chopped walnuts

 

Preheat oven to 400 degrees F.

 

Slice the greens off of the beet bulb, leaving a tiny bit of stem on the top of beets, then scrub the beets clean and poke them with a fork. Put in a shallow baking dish with 1/2" water on the bottom. Roast the beets till tender all the way through, about an hour. Replenish water as needed. Test with a knife. Cool completely.

Rinse the beet greens well trimming off the tough parts of the stems and cut the softer stem pieces from the leaves. Bring a large pan of water to a boil and drop in the stems. Cook for about 10 minutes, then add the greens. Cook all for 20 minutes more. Drain and sprinkle with 1/4 teaspoon salt and let them cool. I found that there weren't a lot of greens on one of the bunches of beets I had so I bought swiss chard, cooked it, and added it to the mix.

Peel the cooled beets removing the tip, the stem base and all the skin. Cut in wedges and put in a large bowl. Cut the stems and greens and add to the beets.

Whisk together the oil and vinegar with the remaining 1/4 tsp. of salt and some pepper. Drizzle the dressing over the beets and toss. Core and slice the apple and add to the salad, topping it all off with crumbled goat cheese and walnuts.

Mmmm....want some?



 

AnnMarie :)