Baked Beet Salad

American singer/songwriter and recording artist Katrina Woolverton shares with us her Beet Salad creation. It appears she has written another hit. This one for your kitchen repertoire.

Katrina tells us that beets are delicious and have a sweet flavor. And suggests we try pairing it up with peppery green arugula and goat cheese. It will invoke a nice beet contrast along with a delicious creaminess. Read her instructions below.

This recipe serves 2 as starter salad. Or one as an entree salad.

Pop Artist Katrina Woolverton shares with us a picture of her own Baked Beet Salad. Click to see the image bigger.

Ingredients:

1 pound uncooked red beets (use remainder for leftovers)
1/2 -1 tbsp olive oil
1 cup arugula
1 tbsp goat cheese (or feta)
1 avocado
1 tbsp pistachio nutmeats – Trader Joe’s (with nothing added, no salt no oil)
Black pepper
1 Gourmet Blends Vanilla Fig Balsamic

Instructions:

Start by using what I refer to as a “potato brush” to clean the beets, along with a vegetable wash, then rinse well and dry well. What is a potato brush you ask?  I find that root vegetables can be so dirty sometimes.  As a result I started using a designated dish washing brush as my Potato Brush.  It serves as a prep tool to scrub my root vegetables like potatoes, parsnips, beets, carrots and even my ginger.

Back to the recipe!  I found that a baking tin, 9x5x2.5 inch loaf tin, was the perfect size to accommodate all of my beets.  This particular batch of beets was one pound in total, made up of 5 beet roots.  I cooked them all with the intention of having leftovers for later in the week.

Place the beets on a small plate and drizzle them lightly with olive oil, then use your fingers to make sure the entirety of the beet has been covered with a light coating, using approximately 1/2-1 tbsp of olive oil.

Next, put the beets inside the foil covered baking tin, hit it with some freshly ground black pepper, cover with foil and bake on 375 for 1 hour to 1 hour 15 minutes.  When you can easily put a fork through the largest beet they are done cooking.

Beets are delicious and have a sweet flavor.  So I decided to pair my beets with arugula, it’s a peppery green, and serves as a nice contrast with the creaminess of the goat’s cheese and avocado.

When the beets are close to coming out of the oven go ahead and plate the rest of the salad.  Spread a bed of arugula, aka rocket, on your favorite plate.  Then cut up 1 avocado and 1 tablespoon of goat cheese (or gets cheese) and toss it on top of the arugula.  At this stage you should sprinkle the salad with balsamic vinegar.

For this particular recipe I used a vanilla fig balsamic vinegar by Leonardo e Roberto’s – Gourmet Blends, but you can use any balsamic vinegar you have on hand.

When the beets are done use a knife and a fork to gently remove the outer rough layer of the beet, which should peel off easily.  Warning: do not use your fingers for this step or your fingertips will be bright red.

How do you know the beets are done roasting?  If you can easily press a fork into the beet it is done cooking and ready to eat.

I had a serving of two beets in the salad.  Use a knife and a fork to slice the beets then place the beat rounds on top of the salad.  Even if the beats are still warm its okay to plate it.  The arugula is quite sturdy and even if it wilts slightly its too hearty to get soggy.

Next add the pistachio nutmeats, then drizzle again with vanilla fig balsamic.  This salad is ready to serve, and it looks and tastes gourmet.

Are you having vegan for dinner?  Not to worry.  Just get rid of the cheese and this dish is vegan friendly.  To use the leftovers  eat the beets cold right out of the fridge.  I sense there may be a beet stack in my future.

XO,
Katrina

This Baked Beet Salad recipe is from the kitchen of Katrina Woolverton.
At age 11 she won the television show Star Search as a vocalist, and after leaving music to become a lawyer she released her debut pop album In The Blink Of An Eye in 2011, co-written with Val Garay and Bonnie Hayes. The album features three singles, “Shame on Me”, “OPM”, and “So Eden”, all of which gained chart and radio presences in the U.S. and U.K.

Katrina lives in Los Angeles with her husband.She is an active skier, and is involved with the Los Angeles charity The Venice Family Clinic, the largest free clinic in the United States. Go Katrina! We love people who give back.

Find out about Katrina’s next hit recipe.

Related Recipes:
Roasted Beet and Goat Cheese Salad