Beet and Carrot Salad. Beet or not to beet, that is the question.
With spring in bloom, colors are coming alive giving birth to deep rich roasted beet, tri-colored carrot and inspiration for a great salad.
I love spring, days are getting longer, temperatures are on the rise, and the sun shines even brighter leaving us with enough vitamin E to conquer the melancholia that winter darkness may bestow upon us. Yards are being cleaned, plants uncovered, starting to make their ascent to the sun. Gardens are being planned and soon we are blessed with the products of that planning and passion. Luckily for us we have organic farmers who have started up early and are giving us beautiful produce like the beet and carrots, beautiful roasted. I picked up at the Strathcona Farmers' Market here in Edmonton.
Today's recipe was inspired by another food blogger creating fantastic recipes. Karrie from Tasty Ever After has made a beet with pistachio and goat cheese salad that looked so good and vibrant in color. It gave me an idea somewhat similar for a lunch time feast. With the carrots and beets now sitting in the fridge waiting to be utilized, I am ready to create my vision. Inspiration is a wonderful thing, the fuel that sparks our passion and creativity ultimately letting our soul shine in the revelry of our undertakings and art. People sometimes think art to be sculpture, or paintings, or something created in different mediums including sound, visual, texture, and scent. I believe cooking to be an art form, the abundance of colors and textures, aromas and sounds coming from the kitchen.
Today my canvas is a compilation of colors crimson and bright yellows, oranges and almost purple of the carrots nicely roasted giving you that glazed caramelized exterior and wonderfully soft texture inside. Combine this with the deep burgundy of the roasted beet also roasted with some onions beautifully caramelized easing that earthy and muskiness of this vegetable giving it also a nice glaze, making it candy like sweet. Add in the starkness of some nice good quality goat cheese, beautifully white adding a space for the roasted vegetables to shine and take notice. A symphony giving rhythms to this fresco. Art completed the only thing to do is title it and so I give to you Roasted Beet and Carrot Salad.
The Process leading to this Beet and Carrot Salad:
Upon deciding to do this dish, I immediately knew I was going to marinate the beets and carrots in a nice extra virgin cold pressed olive oil, garlic cloves, herbs such as thyme, rosemary, oregano, basil and fresh parsley. Of course some sea salt and fresh cracked black pepper. The aroma is filling the air in the kitchen. I did want to mention that I had purchased the oil and goat cheese from the Italian Center in Little Italy here in Edmonton. I love going there the selection of olive oils too vast to describe and goat cheese fresh creamy with that distinct flavor that goats milk gives to it.
The flavors in this beet and carrot salad are incredible. Starting with the vegetables beautifully caramelized and sweet combined with the savory from the herbs, hints of basil, oregano, thyme, and rosemary. The garlic roasted to a soft sweet pungent nature. The goat cheese a freshness bar none combined with the beet and carrot amazingly creamy and acidic. To top that, a splash of olive oil and you know I always go for the best in quality here. Add a few drops of white truffle oil, just a little squeeze of lemon juice and a dusting of fresh chopped parsley, a hand toss, and there you have it. So to answer the question proposed at the beginning of this post, yes to beets. Welcome to spring with this Roasted Beet and Carrot salad.
Happy Spring everyone, well, excluding the areas where seasons are reversed from ours like Australia.
Enjoy!
And for your listening enjoyment the song of the day: "Skinny Love" by Bon Iver.
PrintRoasted Beet and Carrot Salad
- Total Time: 45 minutes
Ingredients
- 6 medium size beets washed and peeled
- 8 mixed color carrots
- 1 yellow onion chopped
- 3 cloves garlic peeled
- 3 tablespoons extra virgin cold pressed olive oil
- Sea salt and black pepper to taste
- Pinch of onion powder and paprika
- ½ teaspoon each of oregano, thyme, rosemary, chopped fresh basil, chopped fresh parsley
- ½ cup of goat cheese
- ½ teaspoon fresh squeezed lemon juice
- ½ teaspoon white truffle oil
Instructions
- Cut beets and carrots into bite size pieces.
- Toss into a large bowl.
- Throw in onions.
- Drizzle 2 tablespoon olive oil.
- Sprinkle in salt and pepper, onion powder and paprika.
- Add in garlic cloves, oregano, thyme, rosemary, basil.
- Mix well making sure to coat the beets and carrots well.
- Let sit for about ½ an hour in the fridge.
- Pre heat oven to 375 degrees F.
- Take out of fridge and place beets and carrots on a parchment lined baking sheet.
- Place in oven and cook till veggies are soft or a fork can pierce easily. Approx 30 minutes.
- Take out of oven and place beets and carrot mixture in a bowl.
- Add in broken up goat cheese, remaining olive oil, lemon juice.
- Finish with a sprinkling of parsley, and a drizzle of the white truffle oil.
- Toss well.
- Ready to serve.
- Enjoy!
- Prep Time: 15 minutes
- Cook Time: 30 minutes
Nutrition
- Serving Size: 4 servings
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When I am not cooking, I enjoy playing musical instruments, singing, writing. I have learned over the years to live in gratitude and enjoy the moment.
Meaghan says
This looks so good!!! You are certainly eating with your eyes with this dish. I have a goat milk allergy any recommendations for a substitute?
Hi Meaghan
Yes you could use a ricotta or a cow feta that would be really good, I would even just break up pieces of cream cheese that would work too. I am sure you will enjoy it! Thank you for commenting.
Have a wonderful Sunday.
Loreto
Maria says
I definitely need to "beet" a little bit more in my life... this recipe looks amazing! Thanks for sharing 🙂
Congratulations Maria
You havr joined the beet revolution, a great start is this salad you are going to love the flavors and levels in this dish. Thank for the comment.
Happy Beeting!
Loreto
Shauna says
Oh, man, this is a recipe made for me. Love roasted root veggies. So beautiful too!
Hi Shauna.
This is a root lovers dream recipe, those beets and carrots marinated for a bit to entice the flavors then roasted to a sweet earthy taste beautiful. Add in the goat cheese and truffle oil and you step it up another level. Thank you for taking the time to comment.
Have a great day
Loreto
Liliana says
The colours are amazing in this salad! I never thought of marinating vegetables before roasting them. Great idea. Makes a wonderful combination with the goat cheese. Since I have all the ingredients, I will make it today. Thanks for sharing your recipe.
Thank you Liliana for the lovely comment, I think first impressions are lasting impressions and so when a plate comes before you it has to entice you visually then the appetite kicks in and other senses are stimulated. The colors of this beet and carrot salad do just that.Marinating the vegetables intensifies the flavors so much I try to do it often except when I am really wanting to focus on raw flavors. Let me know how you enjoyed the salad would love to hear some feed back.
Have a wonderful Sunday.
Loreto
Hilary says
I absolutely love carrot and beet salad- just a touch of natural sweetness! I love that you roasted them and served them in larger chunks and with goat cheese- I tend to make it raw and grated. But this looks heavenly and perfect for entertaining!
Thank you Hilary I would try them raw like that as I like raw vegetables like a slaw with a bit of earthiness very healthy. The chunks were nice good hits of flavor from the beets and carrots with all those herbs and garlic them a nice citrus from the lemon and the goat cheese heavenly. Your compote sounds delicious I am going to have to check it out. Thanks a bunch for the comment and have a great daaay.
Cheers Loreto
Trish says
This would be so good! Love these flavours, especially with the creamy goat cheese.
Thanks Trish, Food is an amazing thing paired with creativity, endless creations and lots of happy eaaters.
Have a great day!
Loreto
Dana says
Gosh, this is so colorful and you can tell it is incredibly flavorful just by looking at it! Gorgeous dish!
Thank you so much Dana, I was amazed at the levels of flavor in this salad, the beets so caramelized and the creaminess of the goat cheese, that little bit of truffle oil yum!
Have a great day!
Loreto
Kathy @ Beyond the Chicken Coop says
I love roasted veggies. It brings out the natural sweetness and has such a delicious flavor.
Thank you Kathy I agree with what you said especially root vegetables. A lot of people don't like beets because they probably had them boiled and or in vinegar, but I know first hand that some beet haters have been converted to beeets when they are roasted.
Have a wonderful evening.
Happy veggie roasting!
Loreto
Sean says
Perfect! The herbs, the spices, most of all the beets and the carrots (two ingredients I always love, both together and apart) - perfect! It looks so elegant but rustic. Wonderful work.
Thank you Sean for the most kind words. You summed it up perfectly, this array of flavors. I like the way you put it elegant but rustic.
Have a wonderful day Sean!
Loreto
karrie @ Tasty Ever After says
Thanks for the shout-out Loreto 🙂 I must admit, I would choose your beet salad over mine any day of the week. Wow! It is not only gorgeous but you've got some serious flavors going on too! Also, you are so lucky to have that farmer's market near you and I love everything you get from them 🙂
Thank you Karrie, it is a blessing to have these markets here. Now that spring has sprung there will be even more markets open so many options plus love all the socialization that occurs there, the energy. Nicoletta and I sure enjoy this.As for this beet salad I am very happy with it, you are right when you say there are some serious flavors. When it comes to tastes, I don't usually hold back, just listen to that guiding voice and go with it. Karrie have a wonderful day and I am definitely checking out your Indian creamed spinach, I love Indian flavors.
Take Care.
Loreto
Susan says
Is it possible to use those beets that are in vacuum packaging from the cooler at the grocery store?
Absolutely. I think they are already pre-cooked, so they might need less time in the oven. Check how soft they are and add them to the oven at a later time: at half the cooking time if they still have a bite, or towards the end if they are soft. Make sure you toss them well with the other veggies and pan juices when you add them in. Let us know how you like it!