I am sure that I am breaking some sort of blogging rule by posting a salad recipe on a Friday. Salads are for Mondays after you have been eating crap all weekend long and you decide, Oh, it’s Monday, I am going to eat salads all week but then you only eat salad on Monday. For lunch. Since it is the holiday season, I was just thinking that maybe you are entertaining and just dying for a show stopping salad recipe. Or maybe you are procrastinating at work and trying to plan dinner for next week. Or maybe you are a person with self control and eats salad all week and on the weekends, too (what is your secret?!)
Whatever kind of person you are, you should probably make this asap because it is delicious. I even make it sometimes without the goat cheese because you don’t even really need it. Then again, you always need goat cheese so I added it because I looooove it! I hope you love it, too. Oh, and have a fabulous weekend.
Winter Salad for Two (Beets, Grapefruit, Avocado, Goat Cheese + Walnuts with a Delicious Balsamic Dressing)
{Serves 2-4 depending on your salad serving}
3 cups mixed salad greens (I sometimes use 50/50 – half spinach, half sweet leaf lettuce)
1 red beet, washed and stems ends cut off
1/4 cup chopped, toasted walnuts
1/2 avocado, large diced
1/4 cup crumbled goat cheese
1 grapefruit, segmented
Balsamic vinaigrette:
1/3 cup extra-virgin olive oil
3 tablespoons good quality balsamic vinegar
1 shallot, minced
1 tablespoon dijon mustard
1 teaspoon agave nectar or honey (optional)
salt and pepper
Preheat oven to 400° F. Wash beets and cut off ends. Grab a piece of tin foil big enough to enclose the beet. With the beet on top, drizzle with a touch of olive oil and sprinkle with salt and pepper. Wrap the tin foil tightly around the beet. Roast in the oven for 45 minutes to an hour. Let cool.
While the beets cook, prepare the dressing. In a mason jar, place all of the dressing ingredients. Shake vigorously to combine.
Peel the skin from the beet using your fingers. It should come off easily. Wash your hands immediately because beets can stain your hands! Dice up the beet into small to medium chunks.
In a large salad bowl, place mixed greens, grapefruit, avocado, beets, walnuts and goat cheese. Toss with dressing. I always start with half of the dressing, toss, and then add more. You can always add more but you can’t take away and there is nothing worse than an overdressed salad! Enjoy!
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