Beet, Goat Cheese and Pine Nut Salad

Andi here.

I've slacked on the blog lately but now that I'm home alone I have no excuse not to make updates on my cooking and dining forays.

We had a dinner party the other night and I decided to throw something different into the usual menu of roasted vegetables and steak. I made a hearty, winter salad (even though it feels like summer in Santa Monica) that was delectable in my humble opinion. A salad like this provides a lot of contrast in texture between the roasted beets, crunchy pine nuts, silky goat cheese, and crispy arugula. The tangy balsamic and lemon used in the vinaigrette also provides good taste contrast to the sweet goat cheese. And visually, a very pretty salad of pinks, purples, golden, and green. Not just your monochromatic spread of steak and potatoes.

Recipe as follows:
4-6 purple and golden beets
goat cheese
1 cup of pine nuts, toasted in a pan
baby arugula
balsamic, dijon mustard, olive oil, lemon, salt & pepper (for the vinagrette)

Peel, quarter, toss in olive oil and roast beets for 25-35 minutes at 400 degrees
To make the vinaigrette, combine everything except olive oil in a mixing bowl, then slowly whisk the olive oil in. This allows the mustard to emulsify the oil and vinegar. Toss the arugula in the dressing to coat evenly, then plate the arugula first. On top of the greens, plate beets, then goat cheese and pine nuts sprinkled around.