Raw Beet Salad With Toasted Sunflower Seeds and Goat Cheese

Submitted by One Happy Woman

"This is less recipe than method and ingredients. Delicious. If your Mr. Wonderful doesn't like goat cheese - gorgonzola would also work. This is a beautiful salad - glistening deep red gratings of beets, greens and dots of goat cheese."

 

• Ready In: 22mins
• Ingredients: 10
• Yields: 4 salads
• Serves: 3

ingredients

• 1 lb beet, raw
• 2 tablespoons sherry wine vinegar
• 2 tablespoons raspberry vinegar or 2 tablespoons balsamic vinegar
• 1 teaspoon Dijon mustard
• 1 small shallot, finely diced
• 1⁄2 - 3⁄4 cup olive oil
• sea salt, lemon pepper to taste
• 1⁄2 cup soft fresh goat cheese
• 1⁄3 cup sunflower seeds

• 6 - 8 cups mixed greens

• baby spinach and arugula

directions

1. Mix the shallots with the vinegars and let stand while you process the beets and toast the sunflower seeds.
2. Peel the beets and grate them or process them in the food processor until they are of coarsely grated consistency.
3. Toast the sunflower seeds (I stir them up quickly in a hot stainless steel pan and remove them from the pan as soon as they start to brown).
4. Mix the rest of the dressing ingredients with the vinegar/shallot mixture and add half of this to the beets and chill until ready to assemble the salad.
5. Mound the greens loosely in individual dishes, and divide the beet mixture amongst the plates.
6. Dot with goat cheese, sprinkle with sunflower seeds and drizzle more of the dressing on the greens.

Reviews

[Stella8037]

What a beautiful salad! I had never cooked with beets before (wear an apron if you're a messy cook like me -- they stain!) My particular Mr. Wonderful did indeed opt for the gorgonzola... that rich cheese, combined with the sweet earthy-ness of the beets and the salty sunflower seeds was an amazing flavor combination! And I felt like giving myself a pat on the back for eating such a healthy meal. I'm definitely going to be making this again. Made for PAC Fall 2009.