Roasted Beet Salad with Oranges, Walnuts, Dried Cherries and Goat Cheese

Adapted from FRESH EVERYDAY COOKBOOK by SARA FOSTER

Well, I was a busy girl yesterday! I planned a Sunday dinner for my family around some of the goodies I got in my Harvest Box. The menu was this salad: Roasted Beet Salad with Oranges, walnuts, dried cherries and goat cheese. The beets, so beautiful in three different colors, were roasted in an easy marinade. The oranges were from my parent's orchard and even though they're the last of the oranges for the summer, they were still sweet and juicy! All of the contrasting colors and textures in this salad make it not only tasty, but beautiful to look at!! The main course was Slow-Roasted Pork Shoulder with Sweet and Salty Glazed Onions along with Roasted Potatoes, Fennel and Carrots.

The Salad and Pork recipe come from one of my most favorite cookbooks: FRESH EVERYDAY by SARA FOSTER. I actually changed around the salad recipe a bit, omitted a couple things and added a few things of my own. If you ever have the chance to look through her cookbook, you will find some of the most amazing recipes ever!!

INGREDIENTS: (Serves 6)

• 3 medium beets (red, golden or any combination), trimmed of greens and washed well.
• juice of 1 orange
• 1/4 cup olive oil
• 2 Tbsp. balsamic vinegar
• 2 Tbsp. maple syrup
• Sea salt and freshly ground pepper to taste
• 2 oranges, peeled and sliced into 1/2 inch rounds
• 1 Cup glazed walnuts (store bought or homemade)
• 3 ounces goat cheese, crumbled (about 3/4 cup)
• 1 cup dried bing cherries
• 1 large bag Organic Mixed Lettuce

DIRECTIONS:

1. Pre-heat oven to 400 degrees.

2. Place beets in a baking dish. Pour the orange juice, olive oil, vinegar, maple syrup, and 1/4 cup water over beets and season with salt and pepper. Cover the baking sheet tightly with foil and roast the beets until they're tender when pierced with a knife, 40-45 minutes. Uncover and let beets cool to room temp. ** Reserve cooking liquid.

3. Peel beets and cut them into 1 inch chunks. Arrange about 1 cup of lettuce on individual plates. Layer orange slices, beets, walnuts, goat cheese and cherries.

4. Whisk the reserved beet liquid and pour over the vegetables, season with salt and pepper. Serve immediately.

Roasted Beets just out of the oven

Look at what pretty colors these beets are!