Roasted Beet Salad with Goat Cheese & Sweet Potatoes

Roasted Beet Salad with Goat Cheese & Sweet Potatoes is a salad show stopper!  Spinach leaves are coated in a sweet and tangy balsamic vinaigrette and then topped with hearty root vegetables for an anti-oxidant rich, gluten-free, and vegetarian Thanksgiving salad recipe.

Does anyone else out there love beets as much as I do?!?

Anyone else feel like they take SO MUCH WORK to prepare?!?

I couldn’t agree with you more.  But man, are they worth the extra effort!

This roasted beet salad with goat cheese may take a little bit of preparation, but the health benefits associated with it are absolutely worth it.

Want a Fact-Based Nutrition Podcast?

Lately, I have started listening to one of my new favorite podcasts.  The podcast is called Nutrition Facts with Dr. Gregor.

Over the past few months, I have been trying to find a nutrition podcast that I could actually believe what they are saying as truth.

Many years of dental school and courses on evaluating studies has led me to be a bit of a skeptic when it comes to finding evidence-based research.

But that is what I LOVE about Dr. Gregor’s website (www.nutritionfacts.org) and his podcast.  Everything is FACT-based!

He also has a book called How Not to Die.  I haven’t read it yet, but it is definitely on my must-read list!

In the months and years to come I will be doing a bit of research and sharing with you all of the cool, interesting, and helpful nutrition tips I come across.

The information is out there, but it just takes a bit of effort to filter through the fluff.

Now onto this roasted beet salad with goat cheese and sweet potatoes…

Roasted Beet Salad is a Perfect Thanksgiving Salad Recipe!

With Thanksgiving and Christmas on the horizon, all of us will be bombarded with unhealthy food.

However, you can still appease your taste buds while getting loads of nutrition.

What I love about this roasted beet salad with goat cheese is that it is slightly sweet but still packed with health benefits.

• Health Benefits of Beets: ¹

  • Beets are high in dietary nitrates which convert to nitrites.
  • These nitrites help to increase blood flow and have a vasodilatory effect.
  • This increase of blood perfusion can help patients suffering from high blood pressure, ED, emphysema, and has a protective effect against dementia.
  • Not to mention, beets are LOADED with antioxidants that are minimally effected through various cooking methods.

• Health Benefits of Sweet Potatoes: ²

  • Sweet potatoes have the most nutrients per dollar.
  • Sweet potatoes have a special protein, a protease inhibitor, that gives them anti-cancer properties.

How Can You Evolve this Roasted Beet Salad with Goat Cheese & Sweet Potatoes?

While this roasted beet salad is already loaded with anti-oxidants, anti-cancer properties, and is gluten-free and vegetarian, there are a few ways you can evolve it even more:

• Grow your own spinach leaves in a winter garden for fresh, organic goodness.
• Use a grass-fed goat cheese for a Paleo salad or leave the cheese off completely for a vegan salad.
• Switch it up and use walnuts or almonds instead of the pecans.

PIN THIS ROASTED BEET SALAD WITH GOAT CHEESE

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Roasted Beet Salad with Goat Cheese & Sweet Potatoes

Roasted Beet Salad with Goat Cheese & Sweet Potatoes is a show stopper!  Spinach leaves are coated in a sweet and tangy balsamic vinaigrette and then topped with hearty root vegetables for an anti-oxidant rich gluten-free and vegetarian Thanksgiving salad recipe.

Course Appetizer, Dinner, lunch, Salad, Side Dish

Cuisine American

Prep Time 15 minutes

Cook Time 30 minutes

Total Time 45 minutes

Servings 8 servings

Calories 322 kcal

Author London

Ingredients

Roasted Beets & Sweet Potatoes:

• 1 ½ cups beets peeled, cut into ¼-inch slices
• 1 ½ cups sweet potatoes peeled, cut into ½-inch cubes
• 2 Tbsp. olive oil
• ½ tsp. salt

Balsamic Vinaigrette:

• ¼ cup balsamic vinegar
• ½ cup olive oil
• ¼ cup honey or maple syrup
• ¼ tsp. salt

Salad:

• 1/2 cup pecans coarsely chopped
• 6 oz. goat cheese
• Spinach

Instructions

1. Preheat oven to 375 degrees.
2. In a gallon-sized zip-top bag combine beets, sweet potatoes, olive oil and salt.
3. Toss to completely coat the beets and potatoes.
4. On a parchment paper-lined baking sheet, spread beets and potatoes out in an even layer.
5. Bake for 25-30 minutes, flipping halfway through.
6. On a separate baking sheet, add pecans and bake for 3-5 minutes, or until slightly toasted.
7. In a medium-sized bowl combine all balsamic vinaigrette ingredients. Whisk until smooth.

To serve salad:

1. In eight salad bowls place 2 cups baby spinach leaves and top each with equal amounts of goat cheese, beets/potatoes, and pecans.

2. Serve with balsamic vinaigrette and enjoy.

Recipe Notes

*I prefer to eat this salad with the beets/potatoes straight from the oven, while they are still warm.

Nutrition Facts

Roasted Beet Salad with Goat Cheese & Sweet Potatoes

Amount Per Serving

Calories 322 Calories from Fat 234

% Daily Value*

Fat 26g40%

Saturated Fat 5g31%

Cholesterol 9mg3%

Sodium 293mg13%

Potassium 212mg6%

Carbohydrates 18g6%

Fiber 2g8%

Sugar 13g14%

Protein 5g10%

Vitamin A 3765IU75%

Vitamin C 1.8mg2%

Calcium 48mg5%

Iron 1.1mg6%

* Percent Daily Values are based on a 2000 calorie diet.

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¹ https://nutritionfacts.org/topics/beets/

²  https://nutritionfacts.org/video/anti-cancer-potential-of-sweet-potato-proteins/