Blended Beet Salad

Beets are one of those vegetables that a lot of people hate but just haven’t had in tasty fashion. I too used to have disdain for beets until I learned how to pair, and cook them. They just need a bit of love and understanding and can form into something delicious.  Pairing them with walnuts, dates, and arugula all fall into the beet equation. This salad is a bit different than most you’ll find around, we’re changing a little of how we prepare them. It’s still a tasty one and a fun way to prepare beets.

If you don’t like all the talking you can skip to the printable recipe card bellow

Jump to Recipe

Ingredients 

Roasted beets

3 small beet (300g)

1 cup of salt (273g)

Beet blend 

Roasted Beets 1 ¼C(208g)

Walnuts 1C (91g)

Dates 3/4C (43g)

Lemon 1/4C (52g)

Salt 1 tsp (5g)

Olive oil 2 Tbsp (20g)

Salad

Arugula 4C (39g)

Goat cheese 1/3C (47g)

Olive oil 3 Tbsp (23g)

Honey 2 tsp (15g)

Procedure 

• Set your oven to 400℉
• Get a baking sheet and coat the bottom with a layer of salt. Place the beets on top and cover with foil. 
• Roast for 45minuets to 1 hour or until a knife goes through the beets like soft butter 
• After roasting, allow the beets to cool to a workable temperature (roughly 30 min)
• chop into 2-inch chunks 
• In a food processor add the: beets, walnuts, deseeded dates, salt, lemon juice, and olive oil. 
• Pulse until everything is evenly combined but still slightly chunky 
• Add the blend to a plate and top with the arugula and goat cheese.
• Drizzle with honey and olive oil
• Enjoy 

Notes 

Layering the bottom of your pan with salt isn’t necessary, but will prevent any beet juice from burning onto your pan. 

---

The beet equation

I’ve found that there is a simple equation for eating beets that will never fail. 

Tasty beets = (beets + tree nuts + goat cheese + balsamic + honey ) / arugula + olive oil 

Understanding this equation is the secret that will open up the door to eating, cooking, and enjoying beets. They aren’t necessarily hard to cook, they just need us to understand them; however, rules are meant to be broken. Those flavor profiles are only a guide and this recipe can lend to much change and variation. Arugula can be swapped for kale, or walnuts for hazelnuts. This recipe can also go the vegan route with very little effort. Swap the honey for maple syrup, or even agave. The goat cheese can be replaced with non-dairy cheese. There are loads of them on the market nowadays along with a lot of recipes on the internet. You have world of options to explore within this recipe and evolve it into your creation.

Salad?

With this recipe, we’re also challenging the idea of how salads are constructed. They don’t always have to be loose veggies thrown on a plate with a bit of dressing. salads can lend themselves in a variety of shapes and forms. One of my favorite quotes relating to this comes from David Zilber “ “salad” is a fairly broad term if you want it to be”. That quote being one of the inspirations of how I constructed this recipe, I decided to blend most of the ingredients. It’s not super chunky like a chopped salad, nor is it smooth like a puree. It’s somewhere in between and the beets are still able to hold up some integrity in a world of varying textures. It’s a balance of soft, crunchy, and chewy all in one equal bite along with the greens and cheese on top. If you want, or don’t have access to a food processor you can totally chop the beets, dates, and walnuts into chunks and toss everything into a bowl together. 

If you weren’t already I hope this recipe converts you to a beet lover. They’re just a veggie that needs a bit of love from our palettes. The canned stuff has left a bad taste in the world. With a bit of love and roasting, we can bring beets back to their glory. Thanks for stopping by the blog, and happy cooking!