Biaggi's Honey Roasted Beet Salad

By sherryl61

I fell in love with this salad. And now my local Fresh Thyme grocery sells precooked beets, making this even easier to achieve. I like to use praline pecans instead of walnuts at times.

Ingredients

• Honey Balsamic Dressing
• 1/2 1/2 1/2 cup balsamic vinegar
• 3 3 3 tbl honey
• 1/2 1/2 1/2 tsp salt
• 1/2 1/2 1/2 tsp pepper
• 1 1 1 cup olive oil
• Fresh Roasted Beets
• 2 2 2 lb. fresh, whole beets
• 6 6 6 cups water
• 4 4 4 oz. white vinegar
• Pinch Pinch kosher salt
• 1 1 1 cup Honey Balsamic Dressing
• 4 4 4 tsp honey
• Dash Dash salt & pepper
• 4 4 4 oz. fresh arugula
• 1/4 1/4 1/4 cup Honey Balsamic Dressing
• 3 3 3 cups fresh roasted beets
• 2 2 2 avocadoes, diced
• 1/4 1/4 1/4 cup dried cranberries
• 10 10 10 oz. goat cheese
• 5 5 5 oz. walnuts, finely chopped
• Cracked black pepper

Details

Servings 1
Preparation time 20mins
Cooking time 30mins
Adapted from images.search.yahoo.com

Preparation

Step 1

In large bowl whisk together balsamic vinegar and honey. Add the salt & pepper, whisk until well blended. While continuing to whisk, slowly add the olive oil. Place in refrigerator until ready to use. Yields 1 ½ cups of dressing.

Preheat oven to 400°. Rinse beets under cold water. Place water, vinegar and salt in a large pot and bring to a boil. Place beets in boiling water bring water back to a boil. Reduce heat to medium and cook the beets for 15 minutes. Allow beets to cool down in the pot for 1 hour or until cool enough to handle. Cut top and bottom off the beets, remove skin with a paring knife. Cut beets into quarters and then cut the quarters in half or thirds, depending on the size to yield 1” pieces.

In a large bowl whisk together ¼ cup of the Honey Balsamic Dressing, honey and salt & pepper. Add the beets and toss together until all pieces are coated. Place a sheet of foil on a sheet pan, transfer beets to pan and spread out evenly. Bake in oven for 15 minutes. Remove from oven and allow to cool for 15 minutes. Transfer to mixing bowl and add the remaining Honey Balsamic Dressing, toss well and place in refrigerator to cool until ready to use.

Separate goat cheese into 10 equal portions; roll each portion into a ball and flatten to create patties; coat each goat cheese patty with chopped walnuts. Arrange arugula on a large platter; evenly drizzle Honey Balsamic Dressing over arugula. Spread the fresh roasted beets, avocado and cranberries evenly across to top of the arugula. Place the pieces of goat cheese down the center of the plate. Garnish with cracked black pepper and serve.