Before I began my journey into veganism, I was not crazy about beets and I rarely ate them. Since my life has become all about vegetables, I expanded my repertoire and roasted beets have become sacred to me. They are simple to make and I especially love them on salads. This salad deserves an honorable mention because the combination of the roasted beets, corn and toasted walnuts are “killer” and tomatoes always go well with this particular combo. The creamy balsamic vinegar dressing recipe belongs to Dr. Oz; however, Dr. Oz includes one garlic clove in his recipe and I like it better without the garlic. I had this salad for dinner last night and it was filling and delicious!! I scraped the corn kernels from a fresh ear of corn, but frozen corn kernels work just as well.
ROASTED BEET, CORN, TOMATO AND TOASTED WALNUT SALAD WITH CREAMY BALSAMIC VINEGAR DRESSING
Ingredients:
For the salad:
Mixed greens salad
Roasted red beets
Corn kernels
Walnuts
Tomatoes
For the dressing:
1 tablespoon olive oil
1 tablespoon balsamic vinegar
1/2 teaspoon Dijon mustard
1/4 teaspoon soy sauce
Directions:
Pre-heat oven to 375 degrees. Cut stem off a red beet (or more than one if you want extra) and scrub it. Do not peel. Spray the beet with olive oil or lightly coat it with olive oil. Place the scrubbed beet in a loose tin foil pouch and bake until tender, for about 1 hour. When the beet is tender (you should be able to pierce it with a fork), take it out of the oven and let it cool. Then, slip the skin off the beet (it should slip off easily with your fingers) or use a paring knife. Cut it into cubes for the salad.
Prepare corn kernels any way you wish. You could scrape them from a fresh ear of corn or prepare as directed on a package of frozen corn.
I lightly toast my walnuts by placing them on a tray in the toaster oven. You can also toast them at 350 degrees in a regular oven. Please note that you have to watch them carefully because they burn easily.
Prepare the salad by placing the roasted beet cubes, corn, toasted walnuts and tomatoes over the mixed greens.
For the dressing, mix together the olive oil, balsamic vinegar, Dijon mustard and soy sauce in a small bowl. I used my “Magic Bullet” to blend the salad dressing ingredients. Btw, I happen to think that the “Magic Bullet” is quite a useful little invention!!!!
Voila!!! Now you have a simple, tasty salad with a simple, but impressive, dressing!!!
Please note that I triple the salad dressing ingredients for later use and I just keep it in the “Magic Bullet” container in the fridge. I also roast many beets at one time for later use.
