Roasted Beet and citrus salad

With roasted beet and citrus salad, eating your salads is so delicious – even in the winter. 

You all know how much I love the idea of seasonal eating – crafting our meals around what’s in season at the moment. Because there’s always something in season, and right now, citrus is one of those things, as well as beets in many places, thanks to their cold-hardiness. 

Which makes it the perfect time to make this roasted beet and citrus salad – although you may end up wanting to make it all year long, and I for sure wouldn’t blame you! 

Not that our fall harvest salad would be amiss this time of year either, with its hearty winter squash and sliced apples – in fact, I would still recommend a lot of fall salad recipes this time of year as perfectly seasonal because it’s natural for a lot of fall ingredients to winter over in pantries and cellars. 

But with that said, this one is a nice mix-up – juicy citrus and sweet roasted beets mixed with some crispy pecans and a tangy fresh citrus dressing is hard to beat. 

I don’t know about you, but as a kid, I didn’t really like salad. My mom always served the same mix of iceberg lettuce with carrots and chopped cruciferous vegetables with our choice of ranch, thousand island, French, Italian, etc. dressings. 

I don’t think I knew how diverse salad could be until I was an adult, and let me tell you, I haven’t had a piece of raw chopped broccoli or cauliflower in a salad ever since. 

There are just so many other options for both salads and dressings. Homemade yogurt ranch is definitely still old faithful, but paleo strawberry vinaigrette also deserves a place at the table, right? 

And so does the citrus dressing that comes with this oh-so-easy-to-make salad recipe. 

I absolutely adore roasted beets and often use them to make roasted beet hummus to have on hand for snacks, so it was a no-brainer to roast a few extra to have on hand for salad this week. 

Roasted Beet and Citrus Salad

• If you don’t have oven space or time to roast beets, etc. You can steam them in your instant pot very quickly. I Set mine to cook for about 20 minutes. 
• Any oranges with good flavor work well in this recipe. Navel oranges are very easy to find and affordable, so I used those several times and enjoyed them. Valencia are also delicious.
• The same goes for the lettuce mix. My favorite is kale because I feel like the texture works really well with the beets and oranges, but my kids are sticklers for romaine lately, and that was also really tasty with this recipe.
• Chopped pecans are a delicious addition to this recipe. Where everything else is soft, they add a nice crunch. pepitas (pumpkin seeds) or walnuts would also be delicious. 

With those notes in mind, know that you really can’t mess this up. Add what sounds good to you! Goat cheese? Yum! Some grapefruit might also be a nice addition.

Let’s get this salad started!

Roasted Beet and citrus salad

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This colorful and delicious salad is perfect during the winter months- you’ll love it!

• Author: Elise

Ingredients

Scale 1x2x3x

• 3 medium red beets
• 1/2 cup chopped pecans
• 4 oranges
• 1/4 cup extra-virgin olive oil
• 1 Tablespoons lemon juice
• 1 teaspoon chopped rosemary
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• a pinch of black pepper
• 8 cups of kale or lettuce mix such as romaine, arugula, spinach, or spring mix

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Instructions

1. Preheat oven to 400º
2. Wash, and trim greens from beets (save for another purpose, such as making smoothies)
3. spray (or rub) with olive oil, and sprinkle with salt
4. Wrap in aluminum foil, and place on a rimmed baking sheet
5. Roast in oven for 50-60 minutes until beets can easily be pierced through with a skewer or fork
6. Set aside until cool enough to handle
7. Meanwhile, peel 3 of the oranges by slicing off tops and bottoms, then standing the orange on a cut end and using a sharp knife to pare away the rind and pith in strips from top to bottom
8. Cut each orange into 1/4 inch thick rounds
9. Grate zest from remaining orange, and then cut orange in half and squeeze the juice into the same bowl
10. Whisk in olive oil, lemon juice rosemary, salt, and pepper

11. When beets are cool, rub skins off (they should come off easily, but if they want to hang on, try using a paring knife to get a strip started to pull off)

12. Slice into 1/4 inch thick rounds as you did the oranges

To assemble: 

1. If using kale, drizzle with vinaigrette, and massage with salad with your hands to break down some of the toughness of the kale.
2. Layer salad with oranges, and beets in bowls, sprinkle with pecans, 
3. Enjoy!

 

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