Beets, Arugula & Goat Cheese - Oh My!

Beets.  Red beets, golden beets, cold beets, roasted beets.  All beets.  How are you feeling about them lately?  If you haven't hopped on the beet bandwagon just yet, have I got a recipe for you!  This salad combines red and golden beets with some of the most flavorful, fresh ingredients - it will turn even the biggest beet skeptics into dirty little beet lovers :)

As I mentioned in my previous post, Feel the Beet, I made a similar version of this salad last year for Easter brunch.  I played it a little safe the first time around, choosing more familiar ingredients like baby spinach & feta cheese.  This year, however, I stepped up the ingredients game and did something I wanted to do - what I knew would send every one's taste buds spiraling into a harmonious flavor trip.  I used spicy, peppery baby arugula & chèvre (no conservative eaters needed to know it was goat's milk cheese unless they asked, right?).  It also didn't hurt that I served this salad in a layered fashion on a beautiful glass platter, allowing its bold & beautiful colors to tantalize the eyes of everyone in attendance.

The beet salad was the first thing to go that morning.  Needless to say, all 20 people at brunch that day requested I make a double batch for our next get-together.  Done & done.  Recipe & more photos below!

Organic beets from Whole Foods - Lincoln Park

Losing greens

Cutting ends

Freshly peeled

Diced & coated - ready to roast

Post-roast

Marinating in the vinaigrette

Ditto

Fresh baby arugula from an indoor farm 15 miles away

Finished product!

She's a beaut'!  #gourmetsuccess

Ingredients

Salad
- about 3 large red beets and 6 small-medium golden beets (you can use all red beets if golden aren't available; after roasting & dicing the beets I had about 1 1/2 - 2 cups of each red & golden for the salad)
- 2 tblsp olive oil
- salt & pepper (just a sprinkling of each)
- 1 pkg fresh chèvre (chèvre is a goat's milk cheese that has a crumbly consistency similar to feta, but is more creamy)
- 1 - 5.5 oz bag of Farmed Here Windy City Arugula (or a 5 oz. container of any baby arugula local to you)
- about 1/2 cup pistachios, shells removed & slightly crushed into smaller pieces

Vinaigrette for Beets
- 1/4 cup balsamic vinaigrette
- 1/2 cup olive oil
- juice of 1 lemon
- 2 tblsp honey
- 2 cloves pressed/minced garlic

Directions

Until you're ready to cook the beets, do not cut them open or cut stems off, in order to keep them fresh & flavorful.  *If using golden & red beets, the red color will bleed - it won't affect the taste but keep them separated if you want to preserve the original color of the golden beets for presentation.

To roast beets:  Preheat oven to 350°F.  Cut greens & ends off beets and discard (or save beet greens for another recipe!).  Gently wash beets under cold water, removing any dirt, and pat dry.  Peel skin off beets using a potato peeler, then dice into 2 inch pieces.  Put golden beets in one bowl & red beets in a separate bowl.  Pour 1 tblsp olive oil into each & toss.  Spread beets on a cookie sheet, keeping them separate still.  Sprinkle lightly with salt & pepper and roast in the oven for 20 mins.  Remove cookie sheet & stir beets (still keeping separate), then return to oven for another 25-30 mins.  Beets should be easily pierced with a fork when done.  Allow beets to cool to room temp while preparing vinaigrette & salad.  Once my beets cooled I cut them into even smaller pieces - about 1 inch chunks - so they could be dispersed more throughout the salad.

For vinaigrette: add all ingredients into a bowl and whisk for 1 min.  Once beets are at room temp, separate into bowls again & add half the vinaigrette to each bowl and stir.  Set aside.

To assemble salad:  Layer all of the arugula evenly on a serving platter.  Top evenly with red beets, then add the golden beets.  The vinaigrette will drip off the beets and coat the lettuce.  Add the goat cheese and pistachios, sprinkling evenly over salad.  Top with a bit of cracked black pepper & serve immediately!