so you say you don't like beets?

dad and i have never been picky eaters by any means, but the one thing he has never liked are beets. "they taste like dirt".  because of this, i never really gave them a chance, and rather assumed that i wouldn't like them either.  i started hearing about how awesome beets are for you: they help your mental health, apparently help fight cancer and heart problems, are very detoxing etc. etc. etc.   

overall this salad is killer!  

    Warm beet and goat cheese salad (1-2 serving)

 - 1 can of beets (fresh are better, but obviously not as simple and lazy)

 - 1/2-1 whole avocado

 - crumbled up goat cheese

 -  almonds or walnuts

 - dried cranberries or cherries

 - arugula, spinach, any kind of dark leafy green (like a pre packaged spring mix)

 dressing (see below) v v v

canned beets are super inexpensive (60ish cents)! just drain and eat. but watch it- they are a natural dye, so the juice will stain!

dressing:  balsamic vinegar, apple cider vinegar, honey, orange juice, salt, pepper

-whisk it all together and make sure there's a balance of sweet, citrus, acid and tang.  like i said (before), if you have a well-stocked kitchen, all you'd really need to buy is the orange

                                                       

or, if you remember from (this) post, it's easy to pre-make a standard balsamic dressing that you can use for so many different things (i used this and thinned it out with more oj and vinegar)

dip the canned beets in the dressing and place on a saucepan at, mmm..? medium heat.  (when in doubt,  put it at medium).  cook both sides for around 5ish minutes, so that they start to get a nice sticky caramelization.  

what's really easy is to always have a bag of mixed nuts and dried fruits.  you can find these usually around the produce section by the lettuce.  having this and goat cheese may seem like a stretch for a college budget, but if you're a salad lover like i am, you can get a good 8-10 salads out of both. 

(goat cheese $3.50 ish, nut mix 2.98isn)

cut up the avo and put it on the lettuce with the remaining dressing....gettin therrree!

this salad is crazy good.  the earthiness of the beets, with the sweet and tangy dressing, the creamy goat cheese melting on top of the warm sticky beets, the fresh crisp of the lettuce, the dried berries absorb the juice, the crunch of the almonds....uh! 

GIVE IT A GO!