A simple and healthy spinach salad topped with roasted beets and goat cheese. Sliced pears, dried cherries, walnuts and an apple cider vinaigrette complete this delicious salad.
Roasted beets, goat cheese and spinach are a favorite combination of mine. For this salad, I’ve added additional fresh and dried fruits along with walnuts to make a healthy and filling dish.
The beets can be roasted ahead of time making for easier and faster salad prep.
How to Roast Beets
- Trim stems and greens away from the beet root.
- Wash beets and pat dry.
- Wrap each beet individually in foil, and place in an oven heated to 400F.
- Roast for about an hour, depending on the size of the beets they may need additional time to roast. Check the beets after an hour by carefully unwrapping and pricking with a fork – beets are done when the center is soft and the fork slides out easily. If more time is needed, rewrap in the foil and place back in the oven, checking every 10 minutes until done.
- Once done, allow to cool in the foil slightly.
- Once slightly cooled, unwrap the foil, and gently peel the skin away from the beets. I do this by holding the beet with a fork and scraping the skin away with a knife. The skin will peel away easily. You can also peel by hand if wearing gloves by rubbing the beet skin away with your fingers.
- After peeling, slice beets and store in the refrigerator.
This spinach and roasted beet salad is easy to put together. Simply layer a couple of handfuls of spinach leaves in to bowls, then top with the roasted beets, goat cheese, sliced pear, cherries, walnuts and finally dressing.
The apple cider vinaigrette here is tangy and refreshing – a perfect complement to the beets and fruit.
How to Make Apple Cider Vinaigrette
- Combine apple cider vinegar, Dijon mustard, salt, pepper, maple syrup, olive oil and a splash of orange juice in a bowl or salad dressing shaker.
- Whisk (or shake) to combine.
Spinach and Roasted Beet Salad with Goat Cheese
- Prep Time: 5 minutes
- Cook Time: 60 minutes
- Total Time: 1 hour 5 minutes
- Yield: 2 salads 1x
- Category: salad, side
- Method: roasted
- Cuisine: salads
Description
A simple and healthy spinach salad topped with roasted beets and goat cheese. Sliced pears, dried cherries, walnuts and an apple cider vinaigrette complete this delicious salad.
Ingredients
1–2 medium sized beets
4 cups baby spinach leaves
2 ounces goat cheese
1 pear, sliced
1/4 cup dried cherries
1/4 cup walnuts
1/4 cup apple cider vinegar
1 tsp Dijon mustard
1/2 tsp salt
1/4 tsp pepper
1 1/2 Tbsp maple syrup or agave
5 Tbsp olive oil
Optional: 1/2 Tbsp orange juice
Instructions
To roast beets:
- Heat oven to 400F.
- Trim stems and greens away from the beet root.
- Wash beets and pat dry.
- Wrap each beet individually in foil, and place in an oven heated to 400F.
- Roast for about an hour, depending on the size of the beets they may need additional time to roast. Check the beets after an hour by carefully unwrapping and pricking with a fork – beets are done when the center is soft and the fork slides out easily. If more time is needed, rewrap in the foil and place back in the oven, checking every 10 minutes until done.
- Once done, allow to cool in the foil slightly.
- Once slightly cooled, unwrap the foil, and gently peel the skin away from the beets. I do this by holding the beet with a fork and scraping the skin away with a knife. The skin will peel away easily. You can also peel by hand if wearing gloves by rubbing the beet skin away with your fingers.
- After peeling, slice beets and store in the refrigerator.
To make vinaigrette:
- Combine apple cider vinegar, Dijon mustard, salt, pepper, maple syrup, olive oil and a splash of orange juice in a bowl or salad dressing shaker.
- Whisk (or shake) to combine.
To assemble salads:
- Divide spinach into two bowls.
- Top each bowl with roasted and sliced beets.
- Divide goat cheese between the two bowls.
- Top each bowl with sliced pear, cherries, walnuts.
- Drizzle apple cider vinaigrette dressing over the top of each bowl.
- Serve
Nutrition
- Serving Size: 1 bowl
- Calories: 269
- Sugar: 14 g
- Sodium: 231 mg
- Fat: 16 g
- Saturated Fat: 5 g
- Unsaturated Fat: 10 g
- Carbohydrates: 24 g
- Fiber: 7 g
- Protein: 11 g
- Cholesterol: 13 mg
Keywords: salad, beet salad, spinach salad, roasted beets, goat cheese, pear, cherries, walnuts, apple cider vinaigrette
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