Love Beets? Impress your guests with this salad

Why it works:

Roasted beet salad makes every beet lover all giddy inside. Afterall it’s the roasting process that brings out the sweetness of the beets and makes us appreciate the humble root vegetable for all it is. Beets are one of those ingredients that makes you believe in simplicity. Paired with a creamy cheese and some crunchy nuts and you have all the elements of a beautiful salad course. Throw a little roasted chicken on there and you have a complete meal. But what sets this beet recipe apart are three things:

Presentation

While most beet salads taste great, the beets themselves get muddled in with other veggies and don’t get the chance to shine. This beet salad forces the beet to take center stage by using both red and golden beets. Then, taking it step further, pureeing one of the red beets for a dramatic splash of color on the plate. There is no denying who’s the star here. This is a dish about restraint and elegance. Limiting the plate to only what’s necessary allows each ingredient to be there for a purpose, to complement the beets.

Aside from the smear of beet puree and the color display of beets the little touch of green from the microgreens scattered across the plate make all the difference. I used an arugula microgreen with some purple radish in the mix. Whatever you can find, or watercress would work well also.

And don’t forget the finishing touches! A drizzle of good olive, a splash of aged balsamic vinegar, and a few drops of pomegranate molasses and you have a masterpiece. Insert standing ovation. Note, this is the time to break out the aged vinegar if you have it. The pomegranate molasses is a little sweet and it makes a great finishing touch on salads and soups or crostini with cheese. I bought mine online and is pantry staple for entertaining.

Whipped Cheese

Goat cheese is one of those things that can be amazing or just okay. Look for a good quality, creamy goat cheese from a farmer or purveyor you trust. I use a plain goat’s cheese, but if you are more of a blue cheese person than by all means use blue. Blue cheese and beets is also a classic pairing.

The idea behind whipping or aerating the cheese is to give a lighter, more airy texture. Plus, it looks pretty if you pipe it on top of the beets. A little swirl of goodness. To achieve a creamy texture, use a little heavy cream and a bit of whole milk Greek yogurt to my goat cheese and then put in a stainless-steel whipped cream dispenser like this one. If you prefer you can use sour cream or creme fraiche instead of the Greek yogurt.

And, if you don’t have a whip cream dispenser, don’t sweat it. Instead, you can whisk the ingredients together in a bowl and then just use a small demitasse spoon to scoop dollops on the plate or cut the tip off a Ziplock baggie and pipe the cheese mixture on the beets.

Sticky, Sweet & Spicy Nuts

These nuts are so good I did my own blog post on them so check that out for the recipe. They really do add a lot to this salad because they are crunchy and have a sticky factor to them but it’s the punch of spice that I love best. The spice and earthiness come from the Chipotle powder along with some other warm spices. You’ll have more than you need for this beet salad recipe if you make them, but the blog post gives some ideas on how to use them as gifts, so I promise they won’t go to waste.

Get the recipe for these sticky, sweet, spiced nuts

If you don’t want to make your own, I recommend the Sahale brand of glazed nuts. Either the Cashews that have vanilla and pomegranate in it. Or the Pecans with orange zest and cranberries. But making your own is super simple and they can be made a week ahead.

Roasted Beet Salad Ingredients:

• 2 medium yellow beets
• 3 medium red beets, (2 for salad 1 for puree below)
• Olive oil
• Fresh thyme
• Watercress or microgreens
• Spiced candied nuts (Recipe link below)
• Whipped goat cheese (see below)

Beet Puree

• 1 small to medium beet (roasted)
• 3 Tbsp balsamic vinegar
• 1 Tbsp water
• 1 tsp fresh thyme leaves
• ¼ tsp salt
• ¼ tsp pepper

Whipped Goat Cheese

• 6 oz goat cheese
• 1/3 cup heavy cream
• ¼ cup Whole milk plain Greek yogurt or sour cream
• 1 Tbsp olive oil
• 1 tsp lemon zest
• Salt & Pepper to taste

Roasted Beet Salad Method:

1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Wash beets and pat dry. Cut ends off beets so they can lay flat on the pan and place each beet on their own piece of foil. Rub outside of beet with oil and season with salt and pepper and then place a couple of sprigs of fresh thyme on top of each beet. Wrap foil around and place in oven. Roast for 45-60 minutes or until tender.
2. Carefully remove beets from foil pack and discard foil and thyme. When cool remove skins from beets and cut the yellow beets first so the red beets don’t bleed on them and discolor. Cut two of the three red beets into wedges. Store yellow and red beets separately if roasting ahead of time. Add a little olive oil, fresh thyme leaves and salt and pepper to the beet wedges before setting aside or refrigerating.
3. Next, puree the third beet. Remove skin and roughly chop and add all beet puree ingredients to the bowl of a mini-food processor and pulse on high until well blended. Stop to scrape down sides as needed.
4. Make whipped goat cheese. This can also be done ahead of time. Combine ingredients in a bowl and whisk well. If you have a whip cream dispenser with N20 then add to the dispenser. Otherwise, cover and store until ready to use.

Roasted Beet Salad Assembly:

1. On a large white platter or individual plates smear some of the beet root puree across in two different directions using a silicon pastry brush. Be sure to get a thick amount of the beet puree on the plate.
2. Arrange some of the yellow beets on top of the puree and then some of the red beets up against the yellow ones. Stack however you feel looks best.
3. Using the whip cream dispenser, piping bag, Ziplock bag, or demitasse spoon add the goat cheese to a few of the beets and along the plate.
4. Sprinkle platter with microgreens or watercress then add a few drops of pomegranate molasses and balsamic vinegar or glaze to the platter.
5. Scatter the sweet & spicy nuts over the top. Garnish with fresh ground pepper and serve.