Roasted Beet Citrus Salad with Blood Orange Vinaigrette

Roasted Beet Citrus Salad with Blood Orange Vinaigrette is fresh and vibrant with tender roasted beets, plenty of citrus and tangy goat cheese!

**This post was originally published in March 2015.  The photos have been updated but the recipe and text have not been modified.

I think one of the biggest keys about eating healthfully is making it interesting.  If you have the same old veggies prepared the same way day in and day out, you’re going to be completely uninspired to eat them.

Making a salad like this Roasted Beet Citrus Salad with Blood Orange Vinaigrette is going to completely inspire you to eat those veggies!

Why?  Just by looking at this Roasted Beet Citrus Salad with Blood Orange Vinaigrette you can see why:

• there’s a variety of vegetables, both raw and cooked, which fills our salad with lots of texture
• we’ve got walnuts for even more texture, adding that much needed crunch
• color…lots of color!  We’re supposed to eat a rainbow after all
• and all of this variety brings with it plenty of flavor, and that’s what’s going to keep you coming back for more.

Flavor is the name of the game…that word is in the title of this blog for a reason. 🙂

When I shop for the week, I buy lots of different veggies, and I roast a variety at the beginning of the week so I can add them to salads, grains, etc. during the week.

This particular week, I bought 1 bunch each golden and purple beets, and cut off the tops and got those beets roasting.

On a side note, did you know beet greens are edible, and they’re great sautéed or used in soups just like swiss chard, kale, or mustard greens?

I even like them raw and use them in salads like this Roasted Beet Salad with Goat Cheese and Orange.

When I roast beets, I give them a quick rinse, pat them dry, and place them in aluminum foil (be sure and place the beets in separate foil packets or your golden beets will be purple too).   I roast them at 375 degrees for about 50 minutes to 1 hour, depending on their size, or until the tip of a knife is inserted easily.

When they’re cool enough to handle, I place the beets in a paper towel and rub the skins off.  The skins come off so easily this way that I’ll never use another method again.

From there, I store them in the fridge until I’m ready to use them.  On another side note, I like to use gloves when handling purple beets so I don’t have purple fingers the rest of the day…or week. 🙂

Beets pair perfectly with citrus, and lately I’ve always got clementines in the fruit bowl.  I added those to the salad, along with a few blood oranges I’d purchased, and the colors just went wild.

My grandmother introduced me to blood oranges many years ago before she died, and they always make me think of her.  Blood oranges have a unique flavor —  they’re not as acidic as regular oranges and they’re mildly sweet.

I couldn’t help but think they would be amazing in a vinaigrette and obviously they are.

And who can argue with that color?

The beets and citrus are nice and sweet, so the toasty flavor of the nuts and tanginess of the cheese add a really nice contrast in flavor.  I used goat cheese here, but feta cheese would be delicious as well.

I added some thinly sliced fennel to the salad because it’s almost a crime not to this time of year.  Fennel, beets and citrus are a match made in heaven, and fennel adds a fresh crunch that I love.

The bottom line?  This Roasted Beet Citrus Salad with Blood Orange Vinaigrette is so vibrant, fresh and flavorful that you’re going to enjoy your veggies more.

And eating more veggies is the name of the game 🙂

Need more salad inspiration?  Give these a try:

Cranberry Pear Salad with Fresh Pear Vinaigrette

Citrus, Fennel and Avocado Salad

Kale Salad with Goat Cheese, Cranberries and Orange

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Yield: 4 servings

Roasted Beet Citrus Salad with Blood Orange Vinaigrette

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Roasted Beet Citrus Salad with Blood Orange Vinaigrette is fresh and vibrant with tender roasted beets, plenty of citrus and tangy goat cheese! {GF, VEG}

Prep Time 15 minutes

Cook Time 1 hour

Total Time 1 hour 15 minutes

Ingredients

For the vinaigrette:

• 2 tablespoons fresh blood orange juice
• 1½ tablespoons white balsamic vinegar
• 1 tablespoon maple syrup
• 1½ teaspoons dijon mustard
• 6 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
• salt and pepper, to taste

For the salad:

• 5 ounces baby spinach
• 1 medium golden beet
• 1 medium purple beet
• 2 blood oranges (1 for the salad, and half of one for the dressing)
• 4 clementines or 1 medium navel orange
• 2 green onions, thinly sliced, both white and green parts
• half a fennel bulb, thinly sliced (the fronds are wonderful in the salad too!)
• ½ cup crumbled goat cheese (feta may be substituted)
• ½ cup toasted walnuts

Instructions

Roast the beets:

1. Preheat the oven to 375 degrees. Remove the tops from the beets and wrap the beets separately in foil to prevent the golden beets from turning purple. Roast for 45 minutes to 1 hour, or until the beets are tender.
2. When the beets are cool enough to handle, remove from foil and rub with a towel to remove the skins. Cut in half from top to bottom, and slice into ¼" wedges. Set aside.

Prepare the vinaigrette:

1. Place the blood orange juice, vinegar, maple syrup, dijon, and lemon juice in a small bowl and whisk till combined. Whisk in the extra virgin olive oil, and salt and pepper, to taste.

Prepare the salad:

1. Slice the tops and bottoms off of the clementines and blood oranges, and working from the top to bottom, cut off the peels and as much of the white pith as possible. Once peeled, turn sideways and slice the oranges gently, then cut into quarters. Alternatively, you can segment the orange slices. Place in a bowl until ready to use.
2. Place the baby spinach in large bowl. Add the golden beets, oranges, green onions, fennel, and cheese, and toss with enough of the vinaigrette to coat. Toss the purple beets with a bit of the vinaigrette, and gently add to the salad just before serving to keep the entire salad from turning purple.
3. Top the salad with the walnuts, serve, and enjoy!

Notes

• Cook time above includes 1 hour for roasting the beets.  The beets may be roasted in advance, cooled, and stored in an air tight container for up to one week.  I like to roast an entire bunch at once, and store them in the fridge for various recipes during the week.  You can also use pre-cooked beets to save time.
• *I like to add the purple beets at the last minute to prevent the salad from turning purple!

Nutrition Information:

Yield:

4

Serving Size:

1
Amount Per Serving: Calories: 504Total Fat: 35gSaturated Fat: 8gTrans Fat: 0gUnsaturated Fat: 26gCholesterol: 13mgSodium: 349mgCarbohydrates: 42gFiber: 7gSugar: 30gProtein: 11g

Nutrition information is mean to be an estimate only. The numbers will vary based on the quantity consumed, brands used and substitutions that are made.

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