The key to enjoying beets is to get them cooked (roasted or sous vide are my two favorite methods) then you can make a wide variety of beautiful salads that usually start by dressing the beets in a vinaigrette of some kind. This salad pairs beets with blue cheese and candied walnuts and is great for brunch or lunch. You can prepare all of the components in advance and then day of, assemble into the salad. I hope you love it as much as I do.
edited from 2014
Beet Salad with Blue Cheese and Candied Walnuts
adapted from San Francisco Ferry Plaza Farmers’ Market Cookbook by Christopher Hirsheimer and Peggy Knickerbocker
Ingredients
- 4 cooked beets (cooked by one of the methods below)
- arugula, spinach, or baby kale
- crumbled blue cheese Point Reyes Blue
- candied walnuts (see recipe below)
Vinaigrette
- 1 shallot, minced about 2 tablespoons
- 1 tablespoon balsamic vinegar
- 1 tablespoon apple cider vinegar
- 3–4 tablespoons olive oil
- salt and freshly ground black pepper Maldon salt
Candied Walnuts
- ½ cup walnut halves or pieces 4 ounces
- 2 tablespoons brown sugar, packed
- 2 tablespoons water
- 1 teaspoon unsalted butter
- pinch salt
Instructions
In Advance: Cook the beets by roasting in the oven or with sous vide
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For oven roast: Preheat oven to 375°F. Cut off beet greens, leaving 1-inch stems; leave root intact. Scrub clean with water and place in a glass baking dish. Add water to about ¼ inch, cover tightly with foil, and bake for about 45 minutes, until beets are fork-tender. When cool enough to handle, peel then slice into rounds or cut pole-topole into 8 wedges (or cut some of each).
For sous vide: Trim off the roots and greens, wash and peel the beets. Place the beets in a sous vide bag (I kept the yellow beets separate from the red by using two bags) and drizzle in a tablespoon of olive oil and a teaspoon of wine vinegar. To make a sous vide bag, use FoodSaver vacuum bags, Zip-lock freezer bags, or silicone Stasher bags—just keep in mind that the bag’s color will never be the same after you cook red beets in it. Cook to 185°, which takes about 2 hours for 2-inch beets. Remove from water bath and let cool. Refrigerate until you are ready to make the salad.
Vinaigrette
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In glass measuring cup, mix shallot with vinegars, and a few pinches of salt and several twists of freshly ground black pepper, and let stand at least 5 minutes to mellow the shallot. Whisk in the olive oil.
Candied Walnuts
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Preheat oven to 250°F. In large frying pan, combine sugar and water over medium-high heat and cook until sugar dissolves and syrup comes to a boil. Add the walnuts, butter, a pinch or two of salt, and cook, stirring constantly, until syrup coats the nuts and almost no liquid syrup is left in the pan. Spread the nuts out on a baking sheet and put in the oven to toast for about 15 minutes. Store air tight for up to 2 weeks.
Make the Salad
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Slice beets and drizzle with a couple tablespoons of vinaigrette. Dress greens starting with a tablespoon of vinaigrette and adding more if desired. Keep extra vinaigrette refrigerated and use within a week.
Place greens on a platter, top with beets, blue cheese crumbles, and candied walnuts.
