Roasted Beet Salad with Apple and Goat Cheese

by Katie Chin, Tastemaker in Residence

photo by Kristine Leuze

The twins picked some gorgeous red and yellow beets recently on a pre-school field trip. When my awesome sous chef Stacy Mears saw them peeking out of a bag on my kitchen counter the other day, she jumped for joy as she just LOVES beets. I sent her home with the beets and asked her to go wild.

Here’s Stacy on her adventures with beets….On a recent trip to visit family in Kansas City, I had the pleasure of dining at Lidia Bastianich’s restaurant across from historic Union Station. After a wonderful meal of house-made mozzarella and freshly made pasta, I decided to buy a copy of the owner’s latest cookbook, Lidia’s Favorite Recipes. I couldn’t wait to try a recipe from the book. So, when Katie offered some of her freshly harvested red and yellow beets, I knew I had to try the Roasted Beet and Beet Greens Salad with Apple and Goat Cheese. Not only was this a visually beautiful dish, but it was also delicious and easy to make.

Please enjoy this adapted recipe from Lidia’s book.

Serves 6

Ingredients
10 to 12 small yellow and red beets with greens attached (about 3 pounds total)
½ tsp salt
1/3 cup extra-virgin olive oil
1/3 cup red wine vinegar
Freshly ground black pepper to taste
1 medium tart, crisp apple ( such as Granny Smith)
4 oz or so slightly aged goat cheese
Hand full of candied walnuts (optional)

Instructions

1. Prepare the oven to 400 degrees F.
2. Slice the greens off, leaving a tiny bit of stem on the top of the beets, then scrub the beets and poke each of them with a fork a few times. Put them all in a shallow baking dish, uncovered, with 1 1/8 inch of water covering the bottom. Roast the beets – the water will actually steam them a bit at first – until they are shriveled, dark and caramelized outside, and tender all the way through (when poked with a knife) – 45 minutes to 1 1/2 hours, depending on the size. Let them cool completely.
3. Rinse the beet greens well, trimming off the tough parts of the stems, and cut the softer stem pieces from the leaves. Bring a big pot of water to a boil, then drop in the stems and cook for about 10 minutes, then add the greens. Coo for 10-15 minutes more, or until the stems are quite soft. Drain in a sieve, sprinkle with 1/4 teaspoon of salt over the hot greens, and let them cool. Peel the cooled beets, removing all the skin, the stem base, and the root tip, exposing the gleaming flesh. Cut the greens (both leaves and stems) into 2-inch lengths, and toss with the beet wedges.
4. Whisk together the oil and vinegar, with the remaining 1/4 teaspoon salt and some grinds of pepper. Drizzle the dressing over the beets, and toss to combine. Core and slice the apple into thin matchsticks. Arrange the dressed beets on a serving platter or portion them on salad plates and fold in the apple pieces and candied walnuts. Crumble with goat cheese on top just before serving.