Meatless Monday #3 – Mixed Greens with Roasted Golden Beets & Strawberries | Kenny Chesney Concert
Hello spring! I love the fresh air, sunshine and the warmer weather. Spring is really here in Minnesota, and we couldn’t be more excited. The Payaso and I ate outside on the deck for the first time last night, and it was glorious. From the deck we could see people playing at the park next to the lake, and the fishing pier was filled with people enjoying the Minnesota Fishing Opener. We saw one lady pull a nice sized sunfish out of the water from the shore as we drove by. We absolutely love being so close to the lake!
This roasted beet and strawberry salad not only is perfect for Meatless Mondays, but it’s also great for this time of year. I always forget how amazing roasted beets are until I eat them, and then I wonder why I don’t eat more of them. I had never roasted strawberries before, but roasting them with a little sprinkle of sugar really adds a nice, fruity flavor to the salad; the sugar and roasting bring out the true flavor of the strawberry. It’s also a great flavor friend to the earthy taste of the roasted beets. The recipe has been adapted from a Cooking Light recipe.
Mixed Greens with Roasted Golden Beets & Strawberries
Ingredients:
- 1 pound small golden beets, cleaned and scrubbed (about 5 or 6)
- 8 ounces fresh strawberries, hulled and cut in half
- 1 teaspoon sugar
- ¼ cup oil
- 3 tablespoons white balsamic vinegar
- 1 tablespoon Dijon mustard
- Salt/pepper, to taste
- 6 ounces mixed greens
- 3 ounces goat cheese, crumbled
- 1/3 cup sliced almonds
Directions:
- Preheat oven to 375 degrees.
- Wrap cleaned beets in aluminum foil and place on a rimmed baking sheet. Bake in oven for 1 hour and 15 minutes.
- Remove beets from oven and allow to cool slightly. Remove skins from beets by gently rubbing with a paper towel.
- Cut beets into wedges about the same size as the strawberry halves.
- Place halved strawberries on rimmed baking sheet, sprinkle with sugar and roast at 375 for 8-10 minutes.
- Remove strawberries from oven and let cool.
- To make the dressing, combine the oil, balsamic vinegar, Dijon mustard and salt and pepper to a mason jar. Close with lid and shake to combine well.
- Divide lettuce, beets, strawberries, goat cheese and almonds among four plates. Drizzle each plat with dressing.
Trust me, you are going to love this salad. The Payaso and I cheated, and added a few slices of serrano ham to the salad, and that was delicious. You could also add some soft boiled eggs to this dish if you wanted more protein. The combination of the yolks from the soft eggs would also add a great creaminess to the dish. Grilled chicken breast would also be great in this salad. It was also a lot of fun for me to plate and photograph. I’m not sure what I like more about writing this blog, the cooking or taking pictures of all the food to try to entice you all to make these dishes! Yum, yum, yum and yum!
Here are a few pictures of the Payaso and me at the Kenny Chesney concert this past weekend. It was our first time in U.S. Bank Stadium, and to say we were impressed is an understatement. That place is HUGE! The concert was great; Kenny Chesney had a ton of energy, and the crowd was soaking up everything he gave out. We had seats on the floor in the 10th row. Great view! We decided that perhaps we might be getting too old to sit on the floor given all the drinking and buffoonery we saw from inebriated people, but we had a good time nonetheless. We’ve joked with folks that we left our horses parked in front of the stadium given our cowboy hats and country-like shirts.
Can you see in the panoramic pictures just how big the stadium is? There were a little over 48,000 fans at this concert. For perspective, my hometown in Nebraska is a little over 3,200. That’s mind boggling to me when I think about it that way. Here’s one of our favorite Kenny Chesney songs that he sings with our absolute favorite, P!NK, called “Setting the World on Fire.” Have a great week!