I made beet salad this week after picking up some fresh beets from our neighborhood farmers’ market. I had been craving one for awhile and this easy recipe satisfied that craving. This dish is a nice side salad that pairs well with a protein (I served it with chicken marinated in tamari, lemon juice, parsley, garlic, salt and pepper). It’s a simple list of ingredients, but the final product packs a good amount of flavor and texture. See my recipe below…

Ingredients:

5-6 small-medium sized beets (scrubbed, trimmed and cut in half)
1/2 cup chopped walnuts
3 tablespoons maple syrup
fresh arugula
1/2 cup frozen concentrate orange juice
1/4 cup balsamic vinegar
1/2 cup extra-virgin olive oil
goat cheese

Directions:

1. Place beets into a saucepan and fill with enough water to cover them. Bring to a boil, and cook for 15-20 minutes, until tender. Drain and cool, then cut into smaller pieces (I cut the already half pieces in half again). Place in fridge to cool further.
2. While the beets are cooking, place the walnuts in a small frying pan/skillet and toast on medium heat (don’t let these burn, it can happen quickly if you take your eye off them). Heat until warm and when the nuts are beginning to toast, then stir in maple syrup. Cook and stir until the nuts are evenly coated, then remove from the heat and set aside to cool. I took them out of the pan and put them onto wax paper to cool, and separated the clumps so that they didn’t all stick together.
3. Let nuts and beets continue to cool (nuts on counter, beets in the fridge).
4. Once beets are cool and before serving, whisk together the orange juice concentrate, balsamic vinegar and olive oil to make the dressing.
5. Place as much arugula as you like in one big salad bowl or individual salad bowls depending on how you plan to serve your salad. Add walnuts and beets, and then sprinkle goat cheese on top. Drizzle dressing over top (I had left over dressing, but I like my beet salad heavy on the beets, easy on the greens, so how much dressing you use will depend on your preference and how much arugula you add. Note also that the beets will retain water, which will end up at the bottom of the bowl so keep this in mind when you are dressing your salad as well).
6. Serve and enjoy.

Hope you like it!

xo
Karine