I feel like everyone has that thing on a menu that they always order no matter what. If there’s a beet salad on a menu at a restaurant, it’s a given I’m going to order it. They’re oftentimes similar with goat cheese, onions, some delicious vinaigrette and some herbs. I’ve never had a beet salad I didn’t like. And I never thought to attempt this salad at home. Why? I’m always intimidated by beets and never really felt confident in the kitchen making them. I’m a pretty decent cook, but I think I thought it was one of those things that just required a lot of effort, ingredients or something.
I finally decided to buy some beets randomly one day. I can’t remember exactly why but my guess is I saw someone make something on Food Network (my favorite). A quick Google search of “beet salad” and I realized how seriously simple it is to make a summer beet salad. It’s easy, healthy, flavorful and may I add, gorgeous! I just think beets are so pretty too.
My Easy Beet And Goat Cheese Salad
Ingredients
- Beets, roasted and diced
- Goat cheese
- Red onion
- Lemon juice
- Good olive oil
- Salt & pepper
Method
Step One – Roast Your Beets
To make this easy summer beet salad with goat cheese, you do need to spend some time roasting the beets first. Other than that, it does come together in seconds. To roast beets, I recommend trimming the top where the greens come out (save them, they make for a delicious salad). Scrub them down with some water to remove any dirt, you can use a vegetable brush or just your hands is fine. Don’t dry them off, the water helps to steam them in the foil. Then wrap them in aluminum foil whole and roast at 400 for an hour, maybe more depending on the size. I kind of just let them go to town in the oven.
I do recommend checking on them to make sure they’re not drying out. If the skin looks super dry, just add a splash of water to it and then close it back up. You’ll know they’re ready when they’re fork-tender.
Once they’re done, you will remove the skin (I just use a spoon to scrape it off) and then dice them. Let them cool a bit before making your salad. You can serve this sald warm or cold, I personally prefer it cold. This is also easy to do the day before and make in a big batch. They keep in the fridge for 3-5 days.
Step Two – Mix It All Up
To make the salad you just need some goat cheese (feta works too) and sliced red onion. You can add a little mint if you have it, arugula is nice too. For the dressing, I just do a squeeze of half a lemon and a drizzle of olive oil and some salt and pepper. It’s really that simple.
Summer Beet Salad With Goat Cheese
Ingredients
- 2 cups roasted beets
- 1 tbsp lemon juice (or juice of half a lemon is usually good)
- 2 tbsp olive oil
- 2 oz goat cheese
- 2 tbsp red onion, diced
- salt & pepper to taste
- mint (optional)
Instructions
- Roast your beets at 400 wrapped in aluminum foil until fork tender. Usually about an hour depending on size. Remove the skin and dice them and let cool.
- Add onion, goat cheese, lemon juice, olive oil and salt and pepper to beets and gently toss
- Garnish with mint
Photos by Hannah Lozano
