Roasted Beet Salad with Balsamic Dressing

Roasted Beet Salad with Balsamic Dressing

Jenny Osburn is the author of The Union Street Café Cookbook. Her second collaboration with Laura MacDonald of Deep Hollow Print, The Kitchen Party Cookbook, is now available! Find more recipes at jennyosburn.com and see what she’s up to on instagram at jenny.osburn

(Makes 4 servings)

These days, beautiful local greens are showing up everywhere! From perky microgreens grown by Thatch Patch Family Farm, to full-sized heads of mizuna and bags of baby lettuces from Grafton Greenhouses, you might think spring had come extra early this year at the Wolfville Farmer’s Market. Here’s a lovely salad from The Union Street Café Cookbook to make with the sweet roots of winter, those beautiful greens, and a generous pour of another seasonal excitement: the first tastes of this year’s maple syrup.

I often top this super-tasty salad with Ran-Cher Acres goat cheese, but feta or halloumi are other great options, or leave the cheese off completely if you like. I also added a few thin slices of Peasant’s Pantry’s dry-cured salami to the salad in the picture. It’s worth driving a long way for.

You will have extra dressing and it will keep for weeks in your refrigerator. It’s delicious on any salad or roasted vegetables. Just let it warm up to room temperature or heat for a few seconds in the microwave to melt the olive oil if it solidifies.

For the dressing:

½ C balsamic vinegar
¾ C olive oil
1 clove garlic, minced
½ tsp salt
2 tsp Dijon or grainy mustard
2 Tbsp maple syrup
1 tsp dried oregano

Combine all ingredients in a jar and shake. Refrigerate extra dressing for up to two weeks.

For the salad:

2 large beets, washed and cut in half
1 Tbsp olive oil
8 cups tender greens (baby lettuces or kale, microgreens, sprouts, or spinach)
½ C whole almonds, pecans, or walnuts, toasted and chopped
1 C crumbled goat cheese

Heat the oven to 350º. Cut the beets in half and place them on large piece of foil, drizzle with the olive oil, and fold the foil into a packet. Place the foil packet on a baking sheet and roast for an hour or a little longer, until the beets are tender when pierced with a knife. Let cool and peel, then chop into ½ inch chunks. Arrange the salad greens, beets, nuts, and goat cheese on four plates or in a large bowl. Drizzle with the balsamic dressing and serve.