Roasted Beet Salad with Walnuts

 Pat picked up some beets at the Farmer's Market today and we were looking for a good recipe to use them for dinner. We found this one, which I think would be really good and got good reviews, but we didn't have the proper ingredients and tried to make due with what we had. We also didn't let the beets cook long enough so they were still a little crunchy. We will definitely try this recipe again as everyone was raving about it on Tasty Kitchen, but next time we will let them cook longer and make sure we use white balsamic vinegar instead of regular balsamic vinegar. Also, cool the beets before serving. Give it a try and let me know how it turns out when you actually follow the recipe. I guess you should follow a recipe for a reason right? :) Next time!

• 8 whole Small To Medium Red Or Golden Beets
• 1 Tablespoon Butter
• 1 cup Walnut Halves
• 2-½ Tablespoons Maple Syrup
• 3 ounces, weight Goat Cheese
• _____
• FOR THE SALAD DRESSING:
• ¼ cups White Balsamic Vinegar
• 1 teaspoon Dijon Mustard
• 1 Tablespoon Clover Honey
• ¾ cups Olive Oil
• 3 Tablespoons Chopped Chives

Preparation Instructions

Preheat oven to 400 degrees F. Wash and dry the beets and place in an oven-proof casserole dish. Bake for 45 minutes to an hour, or until the beets are tender when pierced with a knife. Allow to cool, then cut off each end and peel.
To prepare the walnuts, heat the butter until sizzling in a frying pan over medium heat and then add walnuts. Cook the walnuts for about 2 minutes, shaking the pan a few times while they cook. Add the maple syrup and season with salt and pepper. Remove from the heat and set aside.
To make the dressing, add all of the ingredients into a bowl and whisk until smooth. To assemble the salad, slice the beets and arrange them attractively onto four plates. Sprinkle with walnuts and crumble the goat cheese over the beets. Whisk the dressing once more, and then drizzle some of the dressing over each plate. Serve immediately.
Note: you will have dressing leftover to use in the future. Feel free to play around with the dressing ingredients and add or subtract the mustard and honey depending on your taste preference.