Warm Beet Salad

Lately I have been seeing a lot of trendy salads popping up in restaurants all over the place and sometimes at a hefty price. So when I find a salad I love, I try to replicate it at home, that way I can have much more at a lower cost.

Beets have a bad wrap for being a pain in the butt to work with. Which yes I agree, they can be. They stain your fingers, take forever to cook and you have to peel them! Bah! Well I came up with a few tricks that make the process a little easier.
1) Instead of buying a bunch of little beets, I buy 1 BIG beet
2) I wear gloves, or just plastic bags on my hands while peeling. Or just suck it up and work quickly and wash your hands directly afterwards. Lemon juice also helps getting the purple stain out of your skin
3) I slice them and grill them on the barby

Now I know that winter is on the way and this is clearly a salad I did more often in the summer, so for some people the bbq is not an option. Which is fine, you will just have to spend a little longer cooking them. But there are so many ways of cooking them, that you can choose your preference.

Warm Beet Salad

1 large beet

1-2 cups of spinach or spring mix
1/4 cup of walnuts (I like to toast them but this is optional)
Goat cheese (as much or as little as you like)

Dressing
2 Tbsp of Red wine vinegar
1/2-1 tsp of Dijon Mustard
1 small shallot
2 Tbsp of Olive Oil
Salt and Pepper to taste
*Note, you do not have to use this dressing, I happen to love it ESPECIALLY with this salad, but I don't always have shallots on hand, and I really think it is the shallots that make it awesome. But whatever there are a ton dressing that work, I recommend a vinaigrette. 

Get your gloves on an peel that beet.
BBQ: Cut into big slices, drizzle with olive oil and place on grill. It will take about 5-8 minutes on either side until there are some nice grill marks on it.
OVEN: Cut up the beet into slices or chunks. Just remember the smaller the pieces, the quicker they cook. Put in oven at 450 degrees for about 20-30 minutes depending on the size of the beets.
You will know they are done when the beets are tender and you can easily slide a fork/knife into it.

In the meantime, make your dressing. Chop up shallot, whisk together with dijon and red wine vinegar. While whisking slowly add in olive oil. Add salt and pepper to taste. (I sometimes like to add my goat cheese right into the dressing so it kind of soaks up the flavor). Set aside.

Set up your greens on the plate, and sprinkle the walnuts over it. Once the beets are done, add to salad and crumble goat cheese over top (if you didn't add it to the dressing) and drizzle dressing over entire thing. I like to do this as soon as the beets are done cooking because when the goat cheese hits the warm beets, it slowly melts and gets all yummy.

Enjoy your salad and your purple poop the next morning!

Cooking Tip for 1: Like I mentioned earlier, buy 1 large beet and it makes life easier. Also you can find jarred pickled beets. They are tasty as well and can be heated in the microwave. I would just recommend reducing the amount of vinegar in the dressing if you choose these bad boys.