Mixed Green Salad with Goat Cheese, Pistachios, and Beet Vinaigrette

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I have been waiting almost an entire year to share this recipe.  I first created and served it last year as part of our Easter dinner menu and have made it several times since.  It is wonderful side salad to a meal, but it can certainly turn into a meal itself with the addition of sliced chicken or pork.  Other than the delicious flavor, what I love most about this salad is that it sneaks a somewhat underappreciated vegetable into my son's diet.  My girls adore beets, but my son-- not so much (o.k. not at all).  However, when I serve him beets in this form along with mixed greens, creamy goat cheese, tart apple, and salty pistachios, he happily cleans his plate.

The base of the vinaigrette comes from roasted beets.  So, when I roast beets for a Sunday dinner, I usually roast a few more to have on hand for this salad for weekday lunches or a weeknight dinner option.

The vinaigrette is the star of the overall recipe, but like many composed salads, the recipe itself is more of a guideline.  Use as much or as little of the ingredients as you like and feel free to change to ingredients to suit your own taste or your seasonal mood.  This combination of cheese, fruit, and nuts paired with the vinaigrette is a favorite just about any time of year, but in the Fall, gorgonzola, pears, and walnuts is also a tasty composition of flavors.  As I have said many times before, make it for you, make it your own.

Roasted Beets

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Here is another staple/building block in my cooking.  I use roasted beets in salads, vinaigrettes, and even sandwiches, but most of the time they are served warm from the oven with a bit of butter and vinegar as a side dish to our meal.  Roasting beets brings out their natural, earthy sweetness that my family just can't get enough of.  Summer, spring, winter, or fall, we enjoy these tasty gems all year long and they will be on our upcoming Easter menu in some way, shape, or form.


The recipe I am giving you is more of a guideline than a recipe.  I have offered several ingredients to suit your own taste.  My favorite way is to simply toss the sliced or quartered beets with a bit of butter, red wine vinegar, salt and chives.  I have family that enjoys them with orange juice and dill (that's the Scandinavian side).  There are also those of us that enjoy them straight from the oven with a sprinkling of salt.  Just remember, make them for you, make them your own.  


Before I give you the recipe, I must leave you with a warning-- beets STAIN everything and I mean everything.  With that in mind, I would like to give you two tidbits of valuable beet preparation and consumption information.  First, buy a box of disposable gloves from the drug store to wear when you peel them.  That will prevent your hands from looking like you walked away from a crime scene.  Second, put a little note on the bathroom door to remind yourself that you ate beets the night before.  That will stop you from making a frantic phone call to you doctor☺.