It sure feels like I haven’t posted anything in a long time! I’ve been so busy with work, preparing for and travelling to our annual meeting. But now it’s all done and I can relax and get back to what I really love, cooking (and eating….). I recently made this delicious tomato and beet salad with goat cheese and fresh basil.
It really is so simple to make and so yummy. If you can get colourful heirloom tomatoes, it makes it even more special. We have a farmers market in our neighborhood once a week that finally started this week and they always have a booth filled with colourful heirloom tomatoes. The flavour of these tomatoes doesn’t even compare to what you buy in the grocery store. So if you have a local farmer’s market, definitely check it out, you’ll find some great fresh produce.
Beefsteak tomatoes are also a great option, they’re quite meaty and don’t have a lot of seeds and liquid in them which is great for this kind of salad. I have a couple of beefsteak tomato plants in my plot at the community garden and I can’t wait to grow them myself.
Total Time: 2 hours (including roasting time)
Servings: 2 large sides or 4 small sides
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Ingredients:
- 2 large heirloom tomatoes (beefsteak tomatoes work great)
- 1 large red beet
- 1 large golden beet
- 3 oz goat cheese (or more if you like more)
- handful of fresh basil leaves thinly sliced
- olive oil to drizzle
- salt to season to taste
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Directions:
Pre heat your oven to 375 degrees F. Cut the root ends off the beets, set them on tinfoil (each separately), drizzle with olive oil, season with salt and wrap them in the tinfoil. Place them on a foil line cookie sheet, bake for 1 – 1 1/2 hours. This will vary depending on the size of the beets.
To check the beets you can stick a knife into them, the knife should slide in easily when they’re cooked. Another good trick for knowing when roasted beets are cooked is how easily the skin will come off. You can use a piece of paper towel and rub the skin with it, if it slides off the beet easily then it’s probably cooked.
Allow the beets to cool to room temperature.
Cut the tomatoes and the beets into slices. Arrange them on a platter alternating colours. Drizzle with olive oil and season with salt. Crumble the goat cheese and sprinkle the fresh basil.
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