Golden Beet Salad with Cotija and Pepitas

An upcoming trip to Mallorca and Portugal has motivated us to tweak our eating habits a bit -- gotta look good when visiting those beautiful, sun-kissed beaches! This means we’re stocking the fridge with plenty of fresh fruits and veggies and eating LOTS of salad. I like that there’s a lot going on with this salad, between subtly sweet golden beets, sharp onion, creamy avocado, salty cotija cheese, snappy pepitas and a citrus-y balsamic vinaigrette. It leaves you feeling happily full but not weighed down.

Golden Beet Salad with Cotija and Pepitas 
1½ pounds golden beets, roots and stems trimmed
½ cup unsalted pepitas
¼ cup olive oil
3 tablespoons fresh orange juice (from half an orange)
3 tablespoons balsamic vinegar
½ medium red onion, sliced thin (I used a mandoline)
2 large avocados, halved and sliced
8 cups spring mix
1 cup crumbled cotija cheese

Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Wrap each beet loosely in aluminum foil and place on a rimmed baking sheet. Put the beets in the oven and roast until tender when poked with a fork, 60-90 minutes (depending on how big your beets are). Remove beets from oven and set aside to cool.

Put pepitas on a separate baking sheet and place in the oven for 4-5 minutes, until lightly browned and fragrant. Remove pepitas from the oven and set aside to cool.

Make the dressing by whisking together the olive oil, orange juice and balsamic vinegar.

When the beets are cool enough to handle, remove them from the aluminum foil. Peel the beets (wear gloves if you don’t want the beet juice to stain your hands). Cut the beets into a large dice.

Divide vegetables, cotija and pepitas evenly among four plates, drizzle with salad dressing, and serve.

Roasted Beet Salad with Feta and Olives

We recently had a fantastic dinner at Mill Valley Beerworks. Everything was clean-the-plate delicious but one dish that I truly couldn’t get enough of was a beet salad with feta and olives. I do love beets in a salad, but this was the first time I’d had them with olives -- it's a great slightly-sweet-and-salty combo. This is my attempt to recreate it at home.

Roasted Beet Salad with Feta and Olives 
1 pound beets, roots and stems trimmed
⅓ cup raw, unsalted pistachios
¼ cup olive oil
3 tablespoons fresh orange juice (from half an orange)
3 tablespoons balsamic vinegar
6 cups arugula
2 ounces crumbled feta
1 cup pitted kalamata olives, roughly chopped

Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Wrap each beet loosely in aluminum foil and place on a rimmed baking sheet. Put the beets in the oven and roast until tender when poked with a fork, 60-90 minutes (depending on how big your beets are). Remove beets from oven and set aside to cool.

Put pistachios on a separate baking sheet and place in the oven for 5-10 minutes, until lightly browned and fragrant. Remove pistachios from the oven and set aside to cool.

Make the dressing by whisking together the olive oil, orange juice and balsamic vinegar.

When the beets are cool enough to handle, remove them from the aluminum foil. Peel the beets (wear gloves if you don’t want pink hands). Cut the beets into wedges and place in a medium bowl. Toss the beets with just enough dressing to coat.

Once pistachios have cooled, coarsely chop them. Toss remaining dressing with arugula, feta and olives.

Distribute the arugula mixture between four dishes, then top each dish with beets. Sprinkle each dish with chopped pistachios and serve.

Golden Beet and Sunchoke Soup

Spring is in the air, skies are blue, the sun is shining … Yes, I know we’re all pumped for summer salads and barbecues, but how about a delicious bowl of soup before the weather heats up too much? This soup takes only about 30 minutes to make and is great when you’re craving a bowl of something hot and tasty that’s also veg-friendly and dairy-free.

Golden Beet and Sunchoke Soup 
2 tablespoons olive oil
1 pound golden beets, peeled and chopped
1 pound sunchokes (also called Jerusalem artichokes), peeled and chopped
1 yellow onion, chopped
1 tablespoon minced garlic
1 teaspoon salt
4 cups (or more) vegetable broth
¼ teaspoon ground nutmeg
½ teaspoon white pepper
¼ teaspoon cayenne pepper
Shelled pumpkin seeds, toasted

Warm olive oil in soup pot over medium heat. Add beets, sunchokes, onion, garlic and salt and sauté for 10 minutes, stirring occasionally. Add 4 cups vegetable broth, nutmeg, white pepper and cayenne. Increase heat to high, bring to a boil. Reduce heat to low, cover, and simmer until the beets and sunchokes are tender, about 20-30 minutes. Working in batches, process the soup in a blender until smooth. Add more broth if you want to thin the soup a bit. Season with salt. Divide soup among bowls (yields 4-6 servings, depending on how hungry you are) and garnish with pumpkin seeds.