Green Salads

Roasted Beet & Goat Cheese Salad

Roasting is what separates a good beet from a boiled purple hockey puck. Wrapped in foil and left in a hot oven, beets concentrate into something jammy and almost sweet, with edges that caramelise when you cut and sear them. Against that you want acid and tang, which is where whipped goat cheese and an orange vinaigrette come in. It looks like a restaurant plate and takes about fifteen minutes of actual work — the oven does the rest while you get on with something else.

Roasted Beet & Goat Cheese Salad
15 minPrep time
60 minCook time
75 minTotal time
4Servings
340Kcal / serving

Ingredients

  • 6 medium beets, scrubbed
  • 150g soft goat cheese
  • 3 tbsp Greek yogurt
  • 100g mixed peppery greens (rocket, watercress)
  • 60g walnuts
  • 1 tbsp honey
  • Juice and zest of 1 orange
  • 1 tbsp sherry vinegar
  • 3 tbsp extra-virgin olive oil
  • Salt and black pepper

Instructions

  1. Roast the beets

    Heat the oven to 200°C/400°F. Wrap the beets loosely in foil with a splash of water and a pinch of salt. Roast 50–60 minutes until a knife slides in with no resistance. Cool slightly, then rub the skins off with a paper towel.

  2. Candy the walnuts

    Toast the walnuts in a dry pan for 3 minutes, add the honey and a pinch of salt, and stir until they are glossy and sticky. Tip onto baking paper to cool and harden.

  3. Whip the cheese

    Beat the goat cheese with the yogurt and a pinch of salt until light and spreadable. Spread it across the base of a wide platter.

  4. Build

    Whisk the orange juice, zest, sherry vinegar and olive oil. Cut the beets into wedges and toss with half the dressing. Pile the greens over the cheese, top with the beets, scatter the walnuts, and spoon the rest of the dressing over.

Follow the same whipped-cheese base with our Fig & Arugula Salad, or serve alongside Wild Rice & Cranberry Salad. More on balancing sweet and sharp in How to Build a Salad.

The EasySaladBowl secretRoast the beets a day ahead. They keep perfectly in the fridge, and cold beets are far easier to peel and cut cleanly than hot ones.

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