Roasted Beet and Arugula Salad

Recently I realized how veggie-focused my blog posts have been this month. Well, this post for Roasted Beet and Arugula salad is no different. What can I say? Can’t stop, won’t stop!

A big reason for my vegetarian-skewed diet these days has a lot to do with Hungry Harvest. I shared a post earlier in June about the food-rescue mission that recently began delivery services here in Metro Detroit. You can read more about their awesome mission here. As I’ve continued to receive my delivery boxes, I am getting an abundant amount of produce delivered straight to my door step! Cool, eh?

As you may have guessed, I recently received a bunch of beets. Whenever I get beets, whether through delivery or from the store myself, I have one goal – to get them in the oven as soon as possible. That way, I get the cooking part out of the way and reduce the risk of them going to waste in my fridge. Roast them one day and then prep them a few days later, if need be.

Roasting beets is kinda annoying, to be honest, but it’s actually mindless work. Set the oven to 400, put the beets in a baking dish with about 1/2-1″ of water, cover tightly with foil, then roast in the preheated oven until a fork pierces into the beets very easily, anywhere from 40 minutes to 1 hour. Then, let them cool until you can handle them easily and peel off the skin. From here, you can stash them in the fridge until you are ready to prep them into a dish.

I have one absolute-favorite way to prepare beets – tossed with white balsamic vinegar. Like candy, I tell ya. Soooo good! But to round out the dish, I add some flare. In this case, arugula, goat cheese and green grapes!

Simply dice the beets and toss them with white balsamic vinegar, extra virgin olive oil, salt and pepper. Then, when it’s time to eat, add the other goodies. Grapes are optional, but seriously lovely!

A few tips on roasting beets:

• Red beets will change the color of any other beet, so if you want to get colorful and roast golden or candy striped beets, for example, roast them separately from the red so they don’t get tie-died.

• Wear gloves when you handle the cooked beets, otherwise the beet’s “ink” may stain your skin.

• Beets peel most easily when they are still warm, but if the skin is being stubborn, you can use a vegetable peeler, too.

So, there you have it. Easy-peasy roasted beet salad that holds up well in the fridge, travels nicely for lunch, and pairs deliciously with meat or seafood for dinner. The dish that keeps on giving! Enjoy!

Roasted Beet and Arugula Salad

★★★★★ 5 from 2 reviews

• Author: Emily Wilson
• Prep Time: 5 minutes
• Cook Time: 45 minutes
• Total Time: 50 minutes
• Yield: 4 1x
• Category: Vegetables
• Cuisine: American

Print Recipe

Pin Recipe

---

Description

Roasted beets are quite simple to make and tossed with white balsamic vinegar, arugula, goat cheese and green grapes they make a deliciously hearty salad.

---

Ingredients

Scale 1x2x3x

• 4 medium beets
• 1 tablespoon extra virgin olive oil
• 2 tablespoons white balsamic vinegar
• Kosher salt and black pepper, to taste
• 2 cups baby arugula
• 1 cup green grapes, sliced in half
• 2 ounces crumbled goat cheese, optional

---

Instructions

1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Place beets in a heatproof baking dish. Add about 1/2-1 inch of water to the dish, then cover tightly with foil. Once oven is preheated, place beets in the oven and bake until they pierce easily with a fork. This can take anywhere from 40 minutes to 1 hour depending on the size and firmness of your beets. Start checking after 40 minutes.
2. Once beets are fork-tender, remove from oven, uncover and set somewhere to cool. I like to place them on a baking rack away from the stove.
3. After beets have cooled enough to handle, cut off the root end and use your hands to peel or push off the skin. If skin is being stubborn, you can also use a vegetable peeler. Although once beets have roasted long enough the skin usually comes off pretty easily. Wear gloves to prevent staining skin.
4. Cut beets into a 1” dice and place in a large mixing bowl. Drizzle with olive oil and white balsamic. Season with salt and pepper to taste.
5. At this point, beets can be refrigerated. I like to wait to add the grapes until just before serving so they don’t take on the color of the beets.
6. To serve, toss beets gently with arugula and sliced grapes. Scoop mixture into salad bowls and crumble goat cheese over the top.

---

Keywords: roasted beets, how to roast beets, beet salad, cooking beets