Fresh, bright and zesty, the perfect seasonal salad to snap you out of the winter blues.

During the winter months it can be very hard to eat healthfully especially if you eat seasonally. You can easily find yourself in a recipe rut where you find yourself making the same meals over and over again. When I find myself in one of these ruts, I love to break up the monotony with a seasonal winter salad, specifically a roasted beet salad. 

My favorite way to make beet salad is by roasting golden beets until they are beautifully blistered and tossing it with a homemade herby orange vinaigrette. It’s the most absolute perfect way to treat this delicious winter root vegetable. 

Roasted Golden Beet Salad with Orange Vinaigrette

4 medium sized golden beets, washed. 

1 TBSP vegetable oil

4 tsp kosher salt

3 cups spinach or mustard greens

½ cup chopped almonds

Grated Parmigiano-Reggiano

Orange Vinaigrette

½ small red onion, minced

¼ cup extra virgin olive oil

1 TBSP apple cider vinegar

1 navel orange, juiced and zested

4 sprigs fresh thyme, leaves

1 tsp kosher salt

Freshly cracked black pepper

Preheat the oven to 375°F and cover a small baking sheet with foil.

Wash your beets thoroughly by scrubbing with a vegetable brush or paper towel. With a fork, prick the beets and cover with vegetable oil. Rub a teaspoon of salt onto each beet. Roast beets for one hour.

After an hour check the doneness of the beets with a sharp knife, if they can be easily pierced with little to no resistance they are done. If they are hard to pierce, leave them for another 30 minutes or until they are done. Leave the beets to cool on the baking sheet until they are room temperature or can be easily handled. 

Once beets are cooled enough to be held, with a gloved hand and paring knife remove the skin from the beets. Store your beets in the fridge until you’re ready to use. These beets can easily be made ahead of time, up to three days. 

In a mason jar, combine all the ingredients for the vinaigrette. Seal with the lid and lid ring, shake vigorously until everything is completely emulsified. Store in the fridge until ready to use.  Make sure to shake the jar before dressing the salad, if not using right away.

In a non-stick pan, measure out a ½ cup of almonds. Set to medium low heat and toast until the nuts become fragrant. Once toasted, chop them into bite size pieces.

Slice the beets into thin wedges and dress with your desired amount of vinaigrette. You shouldn’t need to use all the vinaigrette and will be able to keep it in the fridge for a week for other uses. 

Toss greens with the dressed beets, top with almonds and freshly grated parm. Enjoy!

*Notes:

When buying your beets, try to make sure they are about the same size. That way they will roast evenly and be done at the same time.

Do not skimp on the Parmigiano-Reggiano. Make sure you use the real stuff, not the parm in the shaker. For the love of every salad, please put down that shaker! 

If almonds aren’t your thing, this salad also goes well with chopped walnuts or roasted pumpkin seeds. The more important thing is that you have that crunchy element to contrast the tender beets.