Roasted Beet Salad with Feta and Dill
This roasted beet salad is perfect with fresh lettuce greens from the garden. Enjoy it with or without whole grains like quinoa.
Also Read: Apple and Beet Salad, How to Cook & Freeze Whole Grains, More Whole Grain Salads
It’s always exciting when the first beets of the season are ready to pick. They’re small but so very tasty! Early in the season, when the leafy green lettuce is still plentiful and in fine form, I love beets on greens. Later in the season, my favourite beet salad is the beet and apple salad I first created when I wrote the Prairie Fruit Cookbook eons ago.
To show off these gorgeous greens and tasty beets, I like to serve this salad on a shallow platter. It looks so pretty and keeps the tender greens from being squished, prevents the beets from staining everything pink and allows everyone to get some of the toppings. For more tips on dressing and assembling this salad, continue reading after the recipe.
Roasted Beet Salad with Feta or Goat Cheese
Roasted Beet Salad with Feta or Goat Cheese
Ingredients
- 4-6 small red beets
- 1 Tbsp canola oil
- 6 cups fresh salad greens
- 1/4 cup toasted pepitas, nuts or roasted chickpeas
- 2 red or green spring onions optional
- 4 oz goat cheese or feta crumbled
- 2 Tbsp dill separated into small sprigs
- 2 cups cooked whole grains (quinoa, wheat, barley) optional
- Dressing
- 1/4 cup canola oil
- 2 Tbsp red wine vinegar
- 1 Tbsp maple syrup
- 1 tsp Dijon mustard
- 1/2 tsp salt
- 1/8 tsp pepper
Instructions
- Roast Beets
- Preheat oven to 400°F (200°C).
- Wash and trim beets. If mixed sizes, cut very large beets in half to even out cooking time.
- Place beets on foil lined baking sheet.
- Drizzle oil on beets and rotate to ensure beets are evenly coated. Place any cut surfaces face down on the baking sheet.
- Bake for 45-60 minutes until fork tender.
- Remove from oven and let cool at least ten minutes.
- Slip off skin and cut into bite sized pieces.
- Toss with 2 Tbsp of dressing.
- Prepare Dressing
- Add dressing ingredients to a jar with a tight sealing lid.
- Shake vigorously to combine ingredients.
- Taste and adjust as needed.
- Prepare Salad
- Wash and dry salad greens. Tear into bite sized pieces and toss with remaining dressing.
- Arrange dressed salad greens on platter.
- If using, add cooked whole grains on top of greens.
- Top with dressed beets in whatever pattern you prefer – scattered all over, line down the center, geometric shape, etc.
- Top with pepitas and onions if using.
- Top with crumbled goat cheese and dill sprigs.
- Serve immediately or cover and keep in fridge for a couple of hours before serving.
- Makes 4 large salads or several smaller servings.
Notes
Nutrition Facts (per serving)
How to Dress & Assemble Roasted Beet Salad
Roasted or cooked beets are fabulous on salad – but they do colour EVERYTHING. If you want to serve a salad that isn’t stained pink, instead of tossing everything in a bowl, use a platter. It doesn’t really make a difference, but sometimes, it’s nice to keep things their original color.
That leaves the question – how do you dress and assemble this salad so everything doesn’t look pink? There are two options.
Serve Dressing on the Side
This is the easy option. Simply arrange your salad toppings on a platter and serve the salad dressing on the side.
This way the big tray of salad stays fresh, you can save any leftover salad in the fridge and everyone adds the type and amount of dressing they like.
Dress the Lettuce and Beets Separately
If you’re going to a potluck or it’s just not convenient to have everyone dress their own salad, dress the salad in two stages. Dress the lettuce (and whole grains if using) and the beets separately and then assemble one layer at a time. Here’s a photo journey of the process.
This salad will work with spinach, beet tops, kale, romaine lettuce, butter leaf lettuce, etc. The beauty of homemade salads and dressings is that you can totally customize it to suit your taste preferences and whatever is available.
MORE TASTY SALAD RECIPES
If you’re interested in more tasty and unique salads, here are some others on this website…
Kale, Butternut Squash and Farro
Thai Power Bowl with Almond Butter Dressing
Wheat berry Salad with Chickpeas, Feta and Greek Dressing
Southwestern Black Bean and Quinoa Salad
If you make a version of this salad, I’d love to see your creation! Please take a photo, post it on Instagram and tag #getgettys so I can see it and like it!
Sign up to get articles by Getty delivered to your inbox. You’ll get recipes, practical tips and great food information like this. Getty is a Professional Home Economist, speaker and writer putting good food on tables and agendas. She is the author of Manitoba’s best-selling Prairie Fruit Cookbook, Founder of Fruit Share, a mom and veggie gardener.
One Comment