Roasted Sweet Potato & Beet Salad

*GUEST ENTREE ENTRY*

Of late, I've had a fascination with beets... probably because I don't ever remember eating them as a child, so they are a "new" thing to me.

"They don't really taste like dirt. When your kids turn their noses up at beets, tell them it's not the soil that gives beets their earthy flavor—it's the geosmin. An organic compound produced by microbes in the soil, geosmin gives off a smell like freshly plowed earth or a field after a rainstorm." - http://grow.cals.wisc.edu/agriculture/five-things-everyone-shoud-know-about-beets

So beets taste like how a rainstorm smells... cool!

Anyway, I have done a ton with beets lately... I'll start with the one I am most proud of...

3 red beets (beetroot & greens)

1 large sweet potato

chardonnay garlic grapeseed oil

rosemary

salt

walnuts

creamy Boars Head feta cheese

cranberry pear white balsamic dressing

Optional: drop with grilled/roasted chicken breast

Preheat the oven to 400F.

Cut the beet stem/leaves off close enough to the beet to give yourself enough to grip. Scrub the beets and then wrap the wet beet in aluminum foil (I've been using parchment paper as a barrier between the foil and the beet... because aluminum foil has been getting bad press). Transfer to a cookie sheet and bake for like 50-60 minutes.

While the beets are cooking. Quickly prepare the sweet potato. Scrub the sweet potato and then cut into centimeter size cubes (leaving the skin on). Transfer to a bowl. Toss with some chardonnay garlic grapeseed oil, just enough to lightly coat each piece. Sprinkle in rosemary and salt (seasoning to your preference). Transfer the sweet potato cubes to a cookie sheet, spreading out so it's all one layer and not touching. Pop in the oven & every 10-15 minutes stir around/flip over the cubes. This will bake for about 45 minutes.

While the beets & sweet potatoes are roasting, prepare your beet greens. Separate the greens from the stem. Place the greens in a white bowl and run cool water over them, washing them thoroughly. Drain out the water and repeat until you only have clear water in the bowl. This may take several cycles. Then chop up the greens for the salad.

Once the beets are done and have cooled off to a temperature where you can handle them, put on some gloves! Take the beets out of the foil and literally peel the skin off with your fingers using light pressure. The skin will come right off. Then cut the beets into centimeter size cubes (similar to the sweet potato).

Assemble the salad. Greens, beets, sweet potatoes, walnuts, and cheese. Drizzle cranberry pear white balsamic dressing on top & enjoy!