This Roasted Beet Salad is filled with sweet, nutty, and savory flavors. Layered with baby spinach and roasted beets and topped with sliced apples, walnuts, and gorgonzola creates one delightfully fresh and classy vegetarian salad.
This salad is fabulous year round, but it seems most perfect in Fall, utilizing fresh apples when in season along with toasted walnuts or pecans. Tangy gorgonzola (in the blue cheese family) perfectly complements sweet earthy beets and herbaceous spinach. If you aren’t a fan of blue cheese, you can replace gorgonzola with feta or vegan cheese.
Is Gorgonzola the same as blue cheese? Gorgonzola is a type of blue cheese, originating in Northern Italy. Although all blue cheese has similar characteristics, gorgonzola does have its own unique taste, flavor variations, and appearance. Gorgonzola is hard or soft and often seems less pungent in smell. Blue cheese in general pairs very well with uniquely earthy beets and sweet fruits, like apples or figs.
There is something spectacular about the sweet and savory combination this salad provides. Salty and tangy cheese, earthy and sweet beets, and crunchy and sweet (or tart - your preference) apples make this salad an absolutely scrumptious combination. For a tart flavor, use Granny Smith apples. Prefer a a sweeter apple? Fuji or Gala are great options.
For easy prep, roast and slice your beets the day or a few days before. Then, all that is required is filling your plate with a handful of spinach, sliced apples, cubed or crumbled gorgonzola, chopped walnuts, and a light dressing (olive oil and thyme or oregano). You can also use packaged ready-to-eat baby beets for even easier beet prep!
For more roasted beets and blue cheese recipes try: Easy Roasted Beets with Crumbled Gorgonzola.
SAVORY AND SWEET: ROASTED BEET SALAD WITH SPINACH, APPLE, AND GORGONZOLA RECIPE
INGREDIENTS (serves 3-4)
2-3 medium red beets, roasted
4 cups baby spinach (or regular spinach coarsely chopped)*
2 small apples, washed and sliced
1/4 cup walnuts, chopped
1/2 cup gorgonzola, crumbled or cubed
2-3 tbsp olive oil
1-2 tsp dried thyme or dried oregano
salt and pepper to taste
* This recipe uses about one cup of spinach per serving. Add more for extra greens! If you aren’t a fan of spinach, replace with your favorite leafy greens.
DIRECTIONS
1. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Wrap beets in aluminum foil to roast for about 45 minutes. Depending on beets, some require longer roasting times. Please see our How-to Roast Beets tutorial for more details.
2. Toasted walnuts really add a fabulous element to this salad. You can toast the walnuts in a preheated 400F oven for about 7-8 minutes. Toasting the walnuts whole seems to work best; however, you can toast already chopped walnuts for less time. Walnuts can burn quite easily, so keep an eye on them.
3. While beets are roasting (unless previously roasted), wash and slice apples.
4. When beets are cooked and cool enough to handle, remove skins (this article 6 Easy Tips for Cooking Beets Without a Mess provides some great info!) and slice or dice beets.
5. There are two ways to serve this salad. You can gently toss all ingredients in a large bowl or you can plate the salad starting with a bed of spinach and then topped and layered with sliced beets, sliced apples, cubed or crumbled Gorgonzola, and chopped walnuts. You can then drizzle olive oil on each salad and sprinkle with salt, pepper, thyme (or oregano). If you prefer tossing the salad, keep in mind that the beautiful red beet will color everything it touches.
6. Like most greens, this salad is best eaten fresh, or you may make the salad ahead and dress the salad later. Apples will brown once exposed to air. To avoid browning apples, sprinkle a little lemon juice over apples to maintain their freshness and color.
7. This salad will keep in the fridge for a few days; however, the greens may become soggy. Enjoy!
