Roasted Beet Salad

Roasted Beet Salad

Happy New Year! It's been almost two months since my last post, for which I apologize.  The holidays were very busy, and while I was consistently cooking, I never got around to sharing many recipes. But I have a lot saved up so I promise to keep them coming, starting with the healthiest ones first, since I am sure many of you have committed yourself to a more healthful lifestyle as of a week ago.  So while that resolution still holds, I hope you enjoy my recipes.

I made this salad back in the fall when the weather was starting to turn cooler.  Although my favorite go to meal in the winter is soup, sometimes having something fresh still hits the spot.  This roasted beet salad satisfies your craving for a crunchy salad as well as a warm, hunger squelching entree. I had honestly never roasted beets before, so this was a new experience and I was pleasantly surprised. Beets are literally one of the most nutritious foods on the planet,* full of vitamin C, fiber, potassium, manganese, and vitamin B folate. You would be hard pressed to find a food with more health benefits for every aspect of your body, from your muscles, to your liver, and brain function.  And although I know the flavor of beets can be a hard sell for some people, roasting them like I did for this recipe brings out the natural sugars, and both of my kids, even my super picky daughter, loved them.  I rounded out the salad with spicy arugula (a mix of kale and radicchio would be great too), chopped red bell peppers, walnuts, dried cherries, and goat cheese. Of course you can add whatever you like to the salad, but keep the dressing light, like the citrus vinaigrette recipe below. I did serve some pesto encrusted salmon on the side with this salad, but it could easily stand alone as a meal by itself.

* http://www.health.com/nutrition/beets-health-benefits

Seasonal Salad

" 'Tis the Season" Salad

Merry Christmas 2014!!! I hope everyone who is celebrating has a fantastic and fun filled day.  I am sure most of you, like myself, are not eating spectacularly healthy meals like this one today!  I made this a week ago for my husband and I for lunch and it looked so pretty and so "Christmassy" that I had to post it.  I have recently found myself ordering salads in restaurants featuring beets, goat cheese and fruit, three foods I never used to like, or like in salads (fruit).  Honestly the taste of goat cheese alone turns me off, but when mixed together in a salad like this, I love it.  The dark natural colors give away the intense nutrient benefit of the dish, and yet the taste cannot even be described.  The sweetness of the beets, the spicy peppers, the crunch of the pumpkin seeds and the creamy goat cheese, blend together so well that for once, I promise, a completely vegetarian salad is a fulfilling meal.  So maybe not today, but perhaps tomorrow, or as a side dish to some delectable holiday main course, I guarantee this salad will delight both your palate and your eyes. "Tis the season!"