Roasted Beet & Butternut Squash Salad
I hope your Wednesday is off to a good start! Today I’m talking about beets! For some reason I was intimidated by beets until, well, last week. I don’t know why I thought there was some secret to making good beets or why I was under the impression they were difficult to make. I remember my mom making them a lot when I was in high school and I loved them, but for some reason I never asked how to make them. Anyways… rewind to a few weeks ago when the topic of beets came up. Walter mentioned that he loves them and I love them too, so why aren’t we eating them?
Beets are highly nutritious. They are chock full of important nutrients like vitamin C, potassium and fiber. They also contain betaine, which helps fight inflammation. In addition, the betalain pigments, which make then that deep red color, aid in riding your body of toxins. So again, why aren’t we eating beets?
I went to Harris Teeter at the beginning of last week on the hunt for beets. All I could find was a bag of 3 tiny (by tiny I mean golf ball sized) organic beets for $2.99. I was shocked, I thought, no wonder we aren’t eating beets, $2.99 for this?! But I was determined to have beets and too lazy to go to another store, so I bought the bag. I roasted them and we ate them in about 30 seconds because they were so small. So this week I was back on the hunt for more reasonably priced beets. Trader Joe’s for the win! A bag of 3 huge (by huge I mean tennis ball sized) organic beets for $2.49! Such a great deal, I bought 2 bags.
I also bought a container of pre-cut butternut squash (hello lazy) and decided I was going to make a roasted beet and butternut squash salad. I roasted them in the oven at 400 degrees, the butternut squash (tossed in olive oil, salt and pepper) for 40 mins and the beets (wrapped individually in aluminum foil) for an hour (I read that roasting beets longer than an hour can significantly diminish the health benefits). Once they were cooled I cut the beets into small chunks and combined them in a bowl with the butternut squash. I added half a red onion, chopped, 1/2 cup dried cranberries and 4 oz of goat cheese. For the dressing I whisked up some red wine vinegar, olive oil, lime juice, brown sugar, salt and pepper and poured it over the vegetables. A simple salad to serve over greens or as a side dish!
Roasted Beet & Butternut Squash Salad
Ingredients
- 6 large beets
- 2 cups butternut squash, chopped
- 3 tbs olive oil
- 2 tsp sea salt
- 2 tsp black pepper
- 1/2 cup dried cranberries
- 1/2 red onion, chopped
- 4oz goat cheese
- 3/4 cup red wine vinegar
- 1 tbs brown sugar
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 400 degrees
- Wash beets under cold water, scrubbing with your hands
- Dry and wrap each individually in a piece of aluminum foil
- Place on baking sheet, put in oven to bake1 hour
- Meanwhile, toss butternut squash with 1tbs olive oil, 1tsp sea salt and 1tsp black pepper
- Spread onto baking sheet, put in oven to bake 40 minutes
- While vegetables are baking, prepare vinaigrette
- In a small bowl, whisk together 3/4 cup red wine vinegar, 1tbs brown sugar, 2tbs olive oil, 1tsp sea salt and 1tsp black pepper, set aside
- Remove butternut squash and beets from oven, let cool
- Once cooled, remove the skin of the beets
- Chop into small pieces and put in a large bowl
- Add butternut squash, dried cranberries, red onion and goat cheese, mix gently
- Pour vinaigrette over the salad
- Let salad marinate in fridge at least 1 hour before serving
- Top with crumbled goat cheese, if desired