Fall Harvest Salad

A tasty salad mixing peppery arugula, sweet roasted beets, and goat cheese crumbles that is almost as pretty as it is delicious! I used a mix of golden and red beets in the salad I photographed, but you can certainly use all red beets if you cannot find golden beets. I like to use white balsamic vinegar in this recipe as it has a milder flavor than the darker variety, and will not change the color of my golden beets.

Roasting beets brings out their natural sweetness, mixing well with the white balsamic dressing and goat cheese crumbles. Although very easy to prepare, this dish is great to begin a special holiday dinner, or for entertaining. You can experiment with the salad by changing the dressing ingredients, trying other herbs, or using your favorite salad greens instead of the arugula used in my version. I have also made this recipe by using half white balsamic vinegar, and half blood orange juice.

• Though beets have the highest sugar content of any vegetable, beets are low in calories, high in fiber, and rich in iron. Beets are also a good source of beta-carotene and folic acid.
• Olive oil is the chosen oil for the dressing which is a heart healthy mono-unsaturated oil with good antioxidant properties.