Roasted Beet and Carrot Salad with Honey Dijon Black Tea Dressing

The Square 1 Farm booty keeps coming in. Every Monday, another bagful of fresh produce brightens up my kitchen. It’s beautiful, bountiful, and aromatic. Bok choy, crisp yellow and green cucumbers, kale, peppers, scallions, summer squash, basil, cherry tomatoes, green beans…WHEW! The recipe possibilities are endless, and ideas swim around in my brain, mixing with the aroma of just-picked greens, the fragrance of basil, and the slight hint of …what’s that I smell? Ah, yes. Anxiety.

Yep, I’ve got it bad. CSA abundantitis. I makes me slightly anxious to think I won’t be able to manage such a bounty of produce. That I’ll neglect it, or fail to use it before it…before it….oh alright, before it goes from this:

To this:

Yes, I failed the kale last week. My new mantra: DON’T FAIL THE KALE. (I also failed the cilantro and lettuce, but those don’t rhyme.) I feel absolutely terrible about it, like some lame foster mom who’s neglected her charges.

I can do better. I will. I am. (Not to be confused with Will.I.Am). I’ve made pesto already, and the kale is all washed and ready to go for a big batch of kale chips. And, today’s recipe for Roasted Beet and Carrot Salad with Honey Dijon Black Tea Dressing is the delicious result of a Hail Mary I attempted to finally use 2 weeks worth of beets — which in this case worked out fabulously 🙂

Beets, beets, beets. Purple happens to be my favorite color. This variety of beet was actually striped purple and white, which I’d not seen before. So pretty! Like most deeply colored vegetables, beets are plenty good for you.  They’re a great source of vitamin C, fiber, and folate, and a new class of antioxidants called betalains. Better yet, they’re sweet whether you grill, steam, boil, or roast ’em. Beet greens  —  the part often tossed into the trash can — can be added to a sauté, a stir fry, soups, or salads.

For this Roasted Beet and Carrot Salad recipe, I roasted beets and carrots along with onion, tossed it all in a great dressing, and served it up on greens with pumpkin seeds and goat cheese. Dinner is served!

The recipe is fairly simple. Peel and chop some beets, carrots, and onions and toss them with oil, salt, and pepper to get them ready for roasting.

Next, you just whip up the dressing and toss the cooled veggies. I absolutely love the black tea dressing, which has great flavor and is very light. Black tea is the base (rather than vinegar), with added honey, Dijon mustard, a little olive oil, and a wee bit of hot sauce. The dressing is more than you’ll need for the beets and carrots, but was great drizzled on my greens as well.

This made 2 big meal-sized servings for me . I placed the beet mixture on greens, then sprinkled goat cheese and pumpkin seeds over the top to finish it. LOVED it. I hope you enjoy this too — a simple way to eat the sweetest and purplest (check it. word.) of all the vegetables!

Roasted Beet and Carrot Salad with Honey Dijon Black Tea Dressing
adapted from Allrecipes.com
Serves 2

Prep time: 15 minutes     Cook time: 30 minutes

2 cups peeled and chopped fresh beets (1/2-inch chunks)
2 cups peeled and chopped carrots (1/2-inch chunks)
1 medium onion, peeled and roughly chopped
2 teaspoons olive oil

Dressing:
1 tablespoon honey
1/8 — 1/4 teaspoon hot sauce (optional)
1 teaspoon Dijon mustard
1 tablespoon olive oil
1/2 cup brewed black tea
2 teaspoons apple cider vinegar
1/8 teaspoon salt

Salad ingredients:
2 tablespoons goat cheese
2 teaspoons pumpkin seeds
4 cups baby greens

Preheat oven to 450 degrees Fahrenheit. Prepare a roasting pan with spray oil.

When the vegetables are all chopped and the oven is preheated, place the roasting pan in the oven to preheat it a bit (a hot pan  improves the roasting effect).

Place the chopped veggies in a mixing bowl. Drizzle the 2 teaspoons of olive oil over it, and gently mix until the oil is coating all the pieces lightly (I used my hands for this part). Sprinkle with just a little salt and pepper, if desired. Carefully remove the heated pan from the oven and place on top of the stove. Spread the vegetable mixture evenly around the pan, and return to the oven.

Roast for 15 minutes, then give the veggies a stir. Return to oven for an additional 10-15 minutes. The beets and carrots will be fork-tender, with brown edges.

While the veggies are roasting, add all the dressing ingredients to a bowl and whisk briskly to combine. Once the veggies have cooled, toss with the dressing. Divide the greens onto two plates, divide the beet and carrot mixture over both, then sprinkle each with half the goat cheese and pumpkin seeds. Drizzle extra dressing over the top.

ENJOY!