Roasted Beet Salad with Pistachios is everywhere these days. I like it so much that, not only do I order it as restaurants whenever it’s on the menu, I make it at home whenever I pull beets out of the ground. I even sometimes purchase beets at the grocery store because I don’t have beets coming out of the ground as often as I’d like.
I think my obsession began at Dimitris in Coventry, CT. They really know how to do big, beautiful, fresh and inventive salads. And if you order a piece of grilled salmon on top, oh my. It’s perfectly done, moist and flaky with a bit of crunch around the edges. But I digress. Dimitris’ Roasted Beet Salad with Pistachios is the best – delish.
However, I sometimes take issue with their plating. I’ve ordered this salad and when it was delivered to the table, I was disappointed to find that they had left off the pistachios. Then I discovered them buried in the bottom of the salad. In my mind, a spoon of balsamic vinaigrette should be swirled on the plate and then topped with the lettuce. The beets should be on top of the lettuce, and the beets should be topped with the onions and goat cheese (to hide the messiness of the beets), with the pistachios scattered over it all. Roasted Beet Salad with Pistachios is much prettier that way, so that’s how I do it. We eat with our eyes!
Roasted Beet Salad with Pistachios
Equipment
- 4 individual salad bowls or plates
Ingredients
- 4 large red beets
- 1 red onion
- 1 bunch leafy greens
- 1 T balsamic vinaigrette (per individual salad)
- 4 ounces goat cheese
- ¼ cup roasted pistachios
Instructions
- Roast the beets – Preheat the oven or your air fryer to 400℉. Trim the beet greens and reserve them for another purpose. Rub the beets all over with a bit of olive oil, wrap them in aluminum foil, and roast for 50 minutes to an hour, or until the beets are softened all the way through and can be easily pierced with a fork. Remove the beets from the oven and when they're cool enough to handle, gently rub off the skins, then chop the beets into 1-inch cubes. I recommend wearing gloves, or you'll have pink palms the rest of the day!
- Mise en place – While the beets are roasting, cut the onion pole to pole. Cut each of the halves across, then slice it vertically. Soak the onion slices in 1 T of white vinegar and sprinkle with ½ t of salt. Gently massage the salt into the onion, and let it macerate until you're ready to compose the salads. Wash and dry the lettuce.
- Compose the salad – Spoon a tablespoon of vinaigrette into the bottom of each salad bowl, then tear the lettuce leaves into bite-sized pieces and distribute them among the bowls. Carefully distribute the beets on top of the lettuce, so that you don't stain the lettuce. Scatter ¼ of the onion slices and 1 T of crumbled goat cheese on top of the beets. Then, finally, distribute the pistachios evenly over each salad.
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