Roasted beet salad with apples and dill vinaigrette
Serves 4-6
My aunt makes a really old school Polish beet salad: just boiled beets dressed with vinegar and dill. I prefer roasting beets (it’s the only way to go as it really enhances the sweetness), and fancied it up with a lively dill vinaigrette and extra sweet crunch from apples and toasted hazelnuts. The lettuce is for show, if you like green things in every salad, but I’ve enjoyed just the simple combination of apples, beets and dill for humble meals.
If you have a fancy fruit vinegar standing in the back of the cabinet (raspberry, fig, cloudberry…) try it in this fresh herb vinaigrette! For the prettiest presentation I like to keep the beets separate from the apples until seconds before serving.
Roasted Beets
- 2 pounds beets, peeled and diced 1/2 inch chunks
- 2 tablespoons olive oil
- Sea salt to taste
Dill vinaigrette
- 2 tablespoons olive oil
- 2 tablespoons red wine vinegar or fruit vinegar
- 4 teaspoons agave nectar
- 3/4 teaspoon sea salt
- 1/4 teaspoon mustard powder
- 1/4 teaspoon ground black pepper
- 3 tablespoons finely chopped fresh dill
Salad
- 2 green or yellow apples
- 1 tablespoon lemon juice
- 3-4 cups chopped Romain or other crunchy, green lettuce
- 2 tablespoons chopped, toasted hazelnuts or walnuts
1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees, toss the diced beets with the olive oil and spread in a single layer on a large baking sheet lined with parchment paper. Sprinkle with a little sea salt and roast, stirring the beets occasionally for 28-30 minutes or until beets are tender. Remove from oven to cool for 10 minutes before assembling the rest of the salad, or if not serving immediately cover and keep warm in the turned-off oven.
2. Whisk all of the vinaigrette ingredients together in a cup. Remove the cores from the apple, leave the skin on and dice into 1/2 inch cubes, then toss right away with lemon juice. Set aside 1 teaspoon of the vinaigrette, then toss remaining vinaigrette with the warm roasted beets in a mixing bowl. Arrange the salad greens in a large serving bowl and top with beets; in another mixing bowl toss together apples and reserved dressing. Scatter apples on top of beets, then sprinkle everything with chopped nuts. Present the salad as is, and just before distributing to guests use salad tongs to mix everything together.
