Gluten-Free Recipes – Healthy Beet and Goat Cheese Salad

Watching the marathon in NYC today (on TV from my apartment) left me feeling a little lazy as I shopped online for cheese.  Sigh.  So to redeem myself I am posting a healthy recipe for a fresh roasted beet salad with homemade buttermilk dill dressing. Beets seem to be a “love ‘em or hate ‘em” sort of vegetable, but I adore their sweet flavor and firm bite – especially when paired with tangy goat cheese and crispy, tart apples.

Beet, apple and goat cheese salad with buttermilk dill dressing recipe (adapted from Eat Food Nutrition)

Ingredients – serves 4
Salad
2 pounds quartered (not peeled) fresh beets, stems and leaves removed
2 large bunch arugula, stems removed
2 cored and thinly sliced Granny Smith apples
4-ounce goat cheese log

Dressing
1 1/2 teaspoons dry mustard
3 Tablespoons season rice wine vinegar
5 Tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
9 Tablespoons buttermilk
1 Tablespoon finely chopped shallot
1 Tablespoon chopped fresh dill

Preheat oven to 450 degrees Fahrenheit.  Wrap beets in foil, making sure to seal into an airtight package.  Roast in the oven for about 80-90 minutes or until beets are soft.

Prepare dressing by whisking together mustard and vinegar in a small bowl.  Slowly whisk in olive oil, then buttermilk, shallot and dill.  Chill until ready to use.

When beets are soft, remove from oven and run under cold water until cool to tough; rub skin off with fingers and cut beets into 1/4 inch dice.

Divide arugula evenly among individual plates.  Add apple slices, then dices beets, topping with small pieces of goat cheese.  Spoon dressing over each salad and serve immediately.

While roasted beets definitely have the best flavor, I have recently found packaged steamed/peeled ready-to-eat beets at FreshDirect and Trader Joe’s.  For a quick salad on a weeknight they are a great substitution.

Here are some tips from Cooking Light on working with beets. For more salad recipes – try my Gluten-Free Tuna Mediterranean Salad, this Pear, Blue Cheese and Endive Salad Recipe or my favorite Avocado, Cilantro and Tomato Salad Recipe.

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