Roasted Beet Salad {with goat cheese}

Beets. Always loved ‘em. Never cooked them on my own. They’ve always looked too intimidating to me- like a knife can’t even get to it. I mean, look at them:

Little tough guys.

But with such a high concentration of antioxidants, iron, anti-inflammatory & detoxification properties (not to mention great taste and color), I knew I had to suck it up sooner or later and learn how to make them.

Well, I did it. I loved them. And while they were a tad bit messy and took a bit longer in the oven than most roasted veggies, they were surprisingly not hard at all to make. And delicious.

In my book, they are good Sunday cooking recipe for the week- perfect in so many different ways, including on it’s own as a cold deli side dish, warm or cold on top of mixed greens, sprinkled with goat cheese, blue cheese or feta,  pinenuts, walnuts or hazelnuts, or with orange or grapefruit zest.

You can alter the basic recipe almost infinitlely. That is, if it makes it past 2 days in your fridge. Mine sure didn’t.

Roasted Beet Salad:

Ingredients:

5 medium beets

Dressing: 2 TB Olive oil + 1 TB red wine vinegar + 2 tsp dijon mustard+ sea salt & pepper.

Organic goat cheese, blue cheese, or feta cheese for finishing (optional).

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 400. Scrub beets to remove dirt:

2. Wrap each beet in foil and place on a baking sheet in the oven for 1 hr.

3. When they are done, unwrap each beet to let the steam escape and let cool for a few minutes. When cool enough to touch, slide the skins off with a knife (this is the messy part). Note: do not use a wood cutting board or it will stain. Cut into rounds, then sticks, then horizontially into cubes.

4. Place cubes in a glass or tupperware container. Whisk your dressing together, then toss to coat, add any extras you’d like and refrigerate or enjoy. As with anything, they taste better the next day, so make it ahead if you have time.