Time for a salad recipe!

After Cinco de Mayo, I may have had one Gluten-Free Baked Tortilla Chip too many and this salad is such a tasty way to get back on track. The dressing is a new favorite. I’m gonna try it on other salads and maybe even as a marinade. Hmmm…

If you’ve never tried this combo, you don’t know what your missing. Sweet roasted beets, tangy goat cheese and a little crunch from the pecans. Balance of flavors and textures all day er’day. The orange thyme vinaigrette sets this apart from other beet and goat cheese salads. So fresh and herb-y. 

 You need beets:

Golden beets are so pretty. They’re so bright and colorful.

It’s like they’re constantly batting their eyelashes at me and making me blush and giggle. I love the mix of the two types of beets, but you can go for any kind.

You also need a small amount of goat cheese, so I got the tiniest size available.

 Begin by preheating the oven to 400F.

Cut the tops and bottoms off of the beets. You can save the beet greens for another time and cook them like you would any dark leafy green.

Separate the golden and red beets on separate sheets of foil (to prevent the red beets from bleeding and staining the golden beets), drizzle with oil and a liberal and democratic sprinkling of S&P.

Then wrap them up into little bundles of beet joy.

Bake for about 50 minutes or until they are fork tender.

I usually bake until I catch a whiff of them, then I stick a fork in them and they are usually perfectly tender.

While the beets roast, make the Orange Thyme Vinaigrette.

You need orange and thyme, and time. And lame.

 You need extra virgin olive oil as well. 

Remove the thyme leaves from their stem and place them in a small jar or bowl.

Add the juice of an orange, an equal amount of olive oil and a dash of S&P.

Whisk or shake until emulsified and set aside or chill in the refrigerator. 

Once the beets have cooked through, remove from the oven and allow to cool enough to handle.

The skins should peel off easily. A paper towel helps rub red beet skins off without staining your fingers.

Slice the beets into rounds and set aside.

Throw some spring greens into a bowl, drizzle some of the vinaigrette on and toss.

Place on a platter and top with the sliced beets.

Sprinkle on some goat cheese and pecans.

Sprinkle on a final dusting of S&P and a tiny drizzle of dressing.

Eat!

The perfect bite.

Sweet, tangy, healthy and a little indulgent.

[subscribe2]

[yumprint-recipe id=’77’]