This winter beet salad is short on ingredients but full of flavor. From earthy beets to fragrant persimmon, all topped off with a delicious creamy goats cheese dressing. Great for lunch or as a side.

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I don't know about you, but I am starting to feel the effects of having made lots of cookies, panettone and other sweeter things recently (a side effect of blogging, baking Christmas cookies early!). I have done my best to give quite a few away, and the kids are all too happy to help out, but I'll be honest I am all too tempted by them myself to resist.

True, the odd cookie is not a bad thing but it's a daily habit at the moment which isn't really me. I don't know if I'm weird but I get sugar headaches. But it has some benefits as I then start plotting healthy foods to compensate, such as this great big beet salad that I had for lunch recently. And they, too, can be delicious discoveries.

Beet salad: the perfect salad for colder weather

I know, salads can feel out of place at this time of year. But to me, it's more a matter of picking the right seasonal ingredients and they can then still be just what you need. A beet salad, for instance, feels much more at home this time of year.

Particularly when you add in things like persimmon and fennel, as I have here. Top it off with a delicious, creamy goat's cheese dressing and you have a perfect winter salad.

How it's made

This winter beet salad is incredibly easy to prepare with only 5 ingredients in the salad and the same in the dressing. I think roast beets (or the full name beetroot as I we'd say in the UK) are much better flavor-wise for this salad.

I appreciate that means a little more work than say buying ready-cooked beets, but you can still make it easy by roasting a day or two ahead of time and keep them refrigerated. Just add them in the oven when you are cooking something else. When you're ready to eat, you just slice a few things, toast the hazelnuts and whisk together the dressing and that's it.

If you can't get hazelnuts then you could substitute them with walnuts or pecans. I do think hazelnuts are the better flavor match, though. They're also better toasted, though this can be skipped too if you're in a rush.

While I had this beet salad for lunch (and polished off a great big bowl of it), it would also make a great appetizer or side dish. It would be a great salad for entertaining as it's so easy but has lots of color and flavor. It's mild enough, though, to work with many other flavors.

Whenever you choose to serve it, this winter beet salad is truly delicious. It's got so many textures and flavors for so few ingredients - the crunch of the salad leaves and fennel, the soft sweet persimmon, the earthy roast beetroot and the creamy rich goat's cheese dressing with a slight sweetness from honey.

It's a wonderful bowl of tasty goodness that certainly helps balance out the cookies. In fact so much so, I'm craving more as I write.

Try these other winter salads:

Winter fattoush salad
Fennel citrus salad
Lentil salad with roasted Brussels sprouts and grapes
Plus get more seasonal ideas in the winter recipes archives.

This winter beet salad has only 5 ingredients but is full of great flavors from earthy beets to fragrant persimmon, topped with a delicious creamy goats cheese dressing.

Print Recipe

5 from 2 votes

Winter beet salad with goat's cheese dressing

This beet salad is a simple combination, full of delicious flavors and textures.

Prep Time10

Cook Time40

Total Time50

Course: Lunch

Cuisine: American

Servings: -6 (depending on how served)

Calories: 489kcal

Author: Caroline's Cooking

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Ingredients

2 beet medium
4 handfuls mixed salad leaves approx, eg spring mix
1 bulb fennel small
1 persimmon fuyu - the smaller tomato-shaped ones that you can eat when still firm
½ cup hazelnuts 70g

For dressing

4 tablespoon goats cheese 60g
2 tablespoon milk
2 tablespoon olive oil
2 teaspoon honey
2 teaspoon wine vinegar

Instructions

Peel the beets, cut into bite-sized chunks, toss with a little olive oil in a roasting dish and roast them for approx 40min at 375-400F/180-200C until tender to a knifepoint. This can be done a day or two ahead and the beets kept in the fridge until needed.
Put the salad leaves in a large bowl. Halve the fennel bulb, remove the firm core and thinly slice, cutting larger slices in half. Toss the fennel with the salad leaves.
Cut the persimmon into thin slices and arrange over the salad leaves. Arrange the beetroot pieces over the leaves as well.
Gently toast the hazelnuts in a dry skillet/frying pan or under the broiler/grill for a few minutes until you can start to smell them slightly but they are not browning (you can skip this if you don't have time, it just helps bring out the flavor) then add to the salad bowl.
Whisk together all of the dressing ingredients and pour over the salad. Note - You don't want to put the dressing over too far ahead of serving as it can separate and look a little like it has curdled although it's fine.

Nutrition

See some of my favorite cooking tools and ingredients in the Caroline's Cooking Amazon store.

Try these other festive salads:

Cranberry Walnut Potato Salad by Cindy’s Recipes and Writings
Pecan Crusted Chicken Salad by Bottom Left of the Mitten
Roasted Vegetable & Goat Cheese Salad by My Life Cookbook
Shredded Brussels Sprouts with Bacon Dressing by Life Tastes Good
Sweet Potato French Bean Lentil Salad by Food Lust People Love
Winter Slaw with Pecans and Maple Dressing by Sprinkles and Sprouts

Winter beet salad with goat's cheese dressing