Fresh Beet and Goat Cheese Salad

/ Jodi

Fresh Beet and Goat Cheese Salad.

I found another gem at our new Fresh Thyme Farmers Market this week – beautiful fresh golden beets!

I love beets – red or gold – but since these are a little harder to find where I live, I was excited to get them.  Golden beets are slightly sweeter and a little less earthy than red beets.  I actually love the earthiness of red beets, but those that don’t might enjoy these.

I love beets hot or cold, plain or fancy, so I decided to make a bit of a fancier salad for our Sunday supper this past week.  Here is my recipe.  Hope you will give it a try.

Fresh Beet and Goat Cheese Salad

Ingredients:

  • 1 large or 2 small gold or red fresh beets (or a combination of both), cooked* and cut into bite-sized pieces.
  • Small bunch of arugula or mixed greens of your choice
  • ¼ cup pecans or walnuts
  • 1 Tbsp pure maple syrup
  • 2 small clementines or oranges
  • 1/8 cup balsamic vinegar
  • ¼ extra virgin olive oil
  • 2 oz. goat cheese
  • Salt and pepper to taste

Directions:

In a small skillet, heat pecans or walnuts until warm and beginning to toast.  Add maple syrup and cook and stir to coat.  Remove from heat.  Spread out on cutting board or parchment or waxed paper to cool.

Prepare dressing by squeezing juice of clementine or orange into a small bowl.  Drizzle and whisk in vinegar and olive oil.  Season with salt and pepper.  Set aside.

Place a small bunch of arugula or mixed greens on each of two salad plates.  Top each plate with equal portions of the cut-up beets, followed by clementine or orange slices, toasted candied pecans or walnuts, and crumbled goat cheese.  Drizzle with dressing and sprinkle with additional coarse black pepper and salt to taste.

*To cook fresh beets, cut greens off top to about an inch from beet.  Place unpeeled fresh beets in a saucepan of water to cover and bring to a boil.  Boil for 20-40 minutes, depending on size, until beets are fork-tender.  (When you stab with a fork, the beet should slide right back off when done.) Drain under cold water and remove skin with paper towel.  Cool completely for salad.  Cut up after beets have cooled.

Enjoy!

Nothing beats a fresh beet!

Cheers & Hugs,
Jodi

40 thoughts on “Fresh Beet and Goat Cheese Salad”

  8. Unlike the usually very wise Chatter Master…you had me at beets, lost me at goat cheese! I am now even more envious of this Fresh Thyme Farmer’s Market, I haven’t had golden beets in many years. I love red beets prepared any way, especially pickled red beets with hard boiled eggs soaking up the color and flavor! Other than the goat cheese, this recipe is pure gold (get it?)! I will ponder upon exactly what cheese to use as a substitute. I have been known at times to eat feta cheese, which most people think is one and the same as goat cheese. It really isn’t, as feta is made of more or totally sheep’s milk than goat cheese, which is 100% goat’s milk. The taste is very different to me, especially if the feta is made from 100% sheep’s milk. Be that as may be, I still need an acceptable substitute or maybe forgo the cheese. Thank-you!

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    • Feta would be nice too. I agree. Very different. Goat cheese is more like cream cheese to me. I love them both. The joy of cooking is the flexibility to make how you like!! Love hearing from you Ellen! Hi to Benjamin. ❤️

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  11. Looks yum, love how you dare to experiment with food, with art, its so creative of you. Love fresh beets too, lots of people I know have never ventured to try them. As a kid I had them a lot, my grandparents had them in their garden, but as an adult I have only started buying them, in the past 5 years or so. Probably because I never had a recipe handed down to me on how to cook them. Okra was big in my family & cooked mixed greens, but I have those recipes somewhere. Lot of fat & frying on those. Beets are so healthy & refreshing.

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