Roasted Beet and Feta Salad with Horseradish Vinaigrette

My Roasted Beet and Feta Salad

Beets are sexy!  Deep, lush red in color, velvety in texture and sweet as honey...mmmmm.  They're on every menu in every high-end restaurant these days!  Have you noticed? 

I admit it, I've not always been a fan - at one time beets seemed to be relegated to the salad bar at an old peoples' joint - right alongside applesauce, cottage cheese and canned pineapple.  Canned beets just don't cut it, but roasted FRESH beets are a revelation!  There's a reason they've become the hot "new" vegetable.  They are delicious!!!!

Mieke, Tall Matt and I had dinner recently at Copper, overlooking the links at Walnut Hills Country Club in East Lansing, MI.  What a beautiful evening with family accompanied by beautiful food, too.  Mieke enjoyed a grilled pork porterhouse with mango relish - yum.  My entree was the whole rainbow trout stuffed with Boursin, sun-dried tomatoes and spinach - you know I was in heaven.  And Matt went light with a delicious linguine and blackened chicken, andouille and peppers...nice.  

The hit of the evening? My beet salad with feta and horseradish!  It made me swoon it was so good.  I vowed to recreate that one when I got home....well, recreate the flavors, not the presentation.  The presentation at Copper, while gorgeous(!), is beyond my everyday needs.  I'd rather spend the my time making this salad frequently instead of creating the perfect presentation with layers of thinly sliced cucumber.  While the cucumber was nice, it was unnecessary.  It was the beautifully dressed beets that I was after.

Copper's Beet Salad

Last night the long-lusted-after beet salad recreation appeared on our dinner table with some lemon and garlic grilled pork chops.  My version of Beet Salad with Feta was as good as Copper's!!!  The hubby and I dined well last night - maybe not overlooking the golf course, but just as happily.

   

Roasted Beet and Feta Salad with Horseradish Vinaigrette

• 3 large beets
• 2 tablespoons feta cheese, small crumbles

• 1 1/2 tablespoons prepared horseradish
• 1 tablespoon cider vinegar
• 1/2 teaspoon dijon mustard
• 1/2 cup extra virgin olive oil
• 1/2 teaspoon salt, or more, to taste
• freshly ground black pepper, a good amount

Heat oven to 450 degrees.  Gently scrub and trim beets to 2" of stems; dry.  (Save the greens!  They make a great side dish on their own when braised with a little sugar and vinegar!)  Lightly oil outside of beets with olive oil and place in an oven-proof dish.  Sprinkle liberally with kosher salt, cover dish with foil and roast beets until a knife slides in easily.  Remove from oven and cool.

While the beets are roasting, put the vinaigrette together: mix well the horseradish, vinegar, mustard, olive oil, salt & pepper.  Whisk until well emulsified.  Set aside.
 
Slip the skins off the cooled beets.  Grate the beets coarsely.  Pour about half the vinaigrette over and gently combine.  Mix in the feta, gently mix again.
 
Serve the additional vinaigrette on the side.