My girlfriends and I love food! Period. Well, I ended that sentence with an exclamation point, but you get my drift! So we take turns on a weekly basis going to one another’s houses to cook and drink wine and just enjoy each other’s company. Especially because we threw wine into the mix of our girls’ nights, it became delightfully challenging to try to figure out a salad that would pair best with our meal, salad, and dessert. We wanted the taste of the wine we chose to drink that night to compliment everything that was on our dinner menu. Remember this story for later because I will reference it again once we get to the wine pairings for today’s delicious dish featured in this blog post. Below are just a couple of pics from our girls nights paired with some wine. I think you can guess which ones are the before wine and after wine.. Haha!
So let’s talk salads. It’s a health craze that people swear by to lose weight fast. Since salads are super customizable, you can eat them every day and it be all different varieties so you are not eating the same boring salad on a daily basis. But remember: don’t drown your leafy greens in fattening salad dressing or it’ll defeat the purpose of being a healthy meal. So Rahnda I know you love ranch dressing, but use it in moderation.
The different combinations of meats, cheeses, vegetables, nuts, dressings, and more make the possibilities of salad building endless. Like duh, that’s why they invented salad bars! No two salads are the same.
When deciding a salad to pair with your meal on a busy weekday night, it’s only natural to consider that the salad is healthy, filling, and refreshing. The health aspect of the salad means there is a balance of a variety of vegetables. You-of course-want to be full after eating the salad. Sometimes a salad is not just a side. It can be treated as a whole meal, too. And let’s not forget that you only want to include the freshest of ingredients, season your salad, and make food pairings that are delightful to the palette.
I can only imagine how tired you must be of the same old salad that you have with every dinner meal at home. Caesar salad is getting boring isn’t it? And don’t get me started with that super boring side salad of just lettuce and tomatoes. Hey, we’re not eating at Burger King here! This is a delicious home cooked meal we are talking about!
Do not despair because I have a solution! It’s time to change the beat of your meal with a roasted beet salad! You will feel healthy just eating this roasted beet salad because of the many vitamins from this root vegetable that will benefit your body such as folate, fiber, iron, manganese, potassium, vitamin , and more! You will be filled with this salad by how you can customize the recipe listed below to fit your appetite needs. You will be refreshed by the fresh beets that are now in season and will be harvested all through the rest of the summer and into late fall to be enjoyed all throughout the winter.
Review the recipe below to see how I make roasted beet salad. I encourage you to try this version first to see how you like it before customizing it and making it your own. Especially if you never ate beets before and/or you never ate a beet salad before, it can be difficult to decide what to add to your beet salad to make it even more refreshing and filling to your personal liking.
Once you have tried the original recipe and you are ready to customize it to your liking for when you make it again the future, consider the list below of possible ingredients. I would recommend only selecting 2-3 additional base ingredients to your salad. This range would not include your dressing or desired seasonings and herbs. Since this is called a roasted beet salad, you want the beets to shine through the most in the dish. Selecting only 2-3 compliments will emphasize the flavor of the beets without taking away from their biggest presence in the dish.
Ingredients:
- Beets (6 Medium)
- Arugula (One Bunch)
- Goat Cheese (4 oz)
- Pistachios (1/4 cup)
- Couscous (1/2 Cup)
- Honey ( 1 Tablespoon)
- Balsamic Vinegar (1/2 Cup)
- Olive oil (1/2 Cup)
- Salt and Pepper (1/4 Teaspoon Each)
Directions:
- Take 6 beets and brush them with olive oil and sprinkle with salt and pepper (1/4 teaspoon each).
- Roast the beets in the oven 425º for 20 minutes.
- Take the beets out after 20 minutes. Let them cool, then peel and chop them up into quarters.
- Put one bunch of arugula in a large bowl.
- Add the beets to the bowl.
- Add the goat cheese.
- Add the pistachios.
- Add the couscous.
Directions For Dressing:
In a small bowl add honey, balsamic vinegar, olive oil, salt and pepper. Mix and pour over the salad.
Enjoy 🙂
Speaking of food compliments, you remember my story from earlier about my girlfriends and I taking turns cooking dinner for each other? Well just from our own personal research and experiences over so many years of doing weekly dinners together, we have come up with the perfect wines to pair with beets. According to the Girl’s Gotta Drink blog, consider wines such as Etna Bianco (white wine), Ploussard (red wine), and Franciacorta (sparkling wine). View the original article here.
Now if you’re trying to kick your wine habit, keep these recommendations on wine pairings with beets in your back pocket for when you want to enjoy a glass again soon. And if you don’t drink wine at all, that’s perfectly ok too! Maybe for those who don’t drink wine, seasoned beet eaters can comment below what virgin drink they believe pairs best with beets. Since I recommended any citrus fruits as possible additions to the roasted beet salad, maybe a cup of your favorite orange juice or lemonade would definitely satisfy you and round out your meal!
Thank you for taking your time to read this blog post about my roasted beet salad recipe. I hope you all enjoy it and leave a comment down below on how you liked the taste and how you also made the salad your own. And if you love the original recipe without any additions or subtractions, I also appreciate that as well. Look out for my next recipe and my next blog about that recipe, too. Happy cooking!
Have a “beet”utiful rest of your day!
