This is probably my all time favorite salad – I remember having it three years ago in NYC where it was appearing on pretty much every restaurant menu. Since then it has certainly broadened it’s reach, I’ve even seen it on Texas menus ::gasp!:: but making it at home is the best. That way you can chow down on a ridiculous portion without shame or audience. Mike wasn’t a fan last year when he tried this but apparently his taste buds are evolving, he was a huge fan this time around.

You can make your beets in advance but I personally like them still a little warm from the oven. You definitely don’t want them piping hot though as they’ll wilt your arugula. Use fresh goat cheese if you can find it, the texture is way better than the goat cheese “crumbles”. And if you’re not an arugula fan, you can certainly make this with baby salad greens but the flavor profile will be missing the sharp pepperyness that makes it so addictive.

We served ours with a pesto ravioli with caramelized onions, basil and proscuitto…yum yum!

Ingredients:
2-3 roasted beets, sliced*
5-6 oz arugula or baby greens
1 ripe avocado, sliced**
1-2 oz goat cheese
1/2 Tbsp lemon juice
1 Tbsp olive oil
seasoning: sea salt

*You could also use canned beets of this but it wouldn’t be nearly as good. To roast fresh beets, choose small to medium ones, wash well, preheat oven to 350, put them in an oven proof pan with olive oil (skin on or off) and roast until a knife goes easily through to the middle, about 40 minutes, depending on the size of the beets. Then peel with a knife or veggie peeler, slice if using now or leave whole and put them in the fridge. Keep in mind that beet juice does stain skin, fabric, counter surfaces, etc so clean up your area before the color sets.

**An avocado is ripe if it’s firm but gives slightly to the touch, don’t choose a squishy or rock hard avocado for this recipe. An avocado slicer is a fun tool to have if you eat a lot of avocado and guacamole, like we do!

Instructions are very simple, wash and dry your greens and then toss with the lemon juice and olive oil (adjust to taste), sprinkle with sea salt and add the individual ingredients. The biggest pain for this salad is thinking ahead and roasting the beets, otherwise it has a great “wow” factor and is easy to make. You can assemble this salad in a fancy schmancy way on individual plates, you can mix it up and put it in a wrap, or you can just dress the greens, lay the ingredients on top and dig in, like we did.

Oh and it’s pretty freakin healthy too, if you’re worried about those things!