Roasted Beet, Walnut, and Goat Cheese Salad

(I’m at a conference this week so a quick bite so you don’t starve while I’m away.)

Towards the end of my college career, the dining hall started serving these awesome entrée salads on the end of the salad bar. This was my favorite, although they would top it with blue cheese or no cheese instead of goat, and would usually put feta on instead (the dining hall was pretty fantastic, but no goat cheese on a regular basis).

When you are in the process of roasting things, roast a lot of them. These beets I think I decided to roast when I was making squash and cookies one day, to use my oven efficiently. I knew I wouldn’t eat the beets any other way, and they’re better if you can let them take your time, which is not always the case when you come home wanting immediate food. Once you have the beets, and the walnuts (I also toast a bunch of nuts at once and then keep them that way—I don’t think they keep quite as long, but it’s worth it to have toasted nuts around to toss on things or just munch on), you can throw together this salad any time and it’s AMAZING. I used spinach as a nice winter vegetable but you could really do anything you like, or skip the greens altogether and just have the other ingredients, which complement each other quite nicely.

Roasted Beet, Walnut, and Goat Cheese Salad
Beets
Walnuts
Goat cheese
Spinach, or other greens
Balsamic reduction, or vinegar and olive oil

Do you really need this? Roast the beets and toast the walnuts, if you haven’t already. Don’t even bother mixing dressing together, just drizzle on some balsamic and olive oil, then toss on the goat cheese and dig in.

(With a side of squash, as I am wont to do.)