Baby Greens, Beet, Walnut, and Blue Cheese Salad

I was a beet virgin. To clarify, with the exception of my very early years when my mother attempted to feed me pickled beets (that horror remains with me to this day), I have virtually no experience with either cooking or eating beets.

Having said this to my husband not too long ago, he waxed nostalgic about his late mother's beets (obviously not of the pickled variety) going on and on (as only a professor of literature could) about how delicious, tender, and sweet they were.

I never met his mother, but figured that, surely, if she could cook a beet, so could I. So I bought one. It was a mess to peel, stained my hands and cutting board, and cooked up to a crunchy insipidness that made me certain that what I bought was not a beet, but a turnip.

Then a miracle happened. I was contacted by a representative of Melissa's Produce asking me if I'd like to try some of their products and do a blog post. They were particularly interested in my trying their beets!

As I have long wanted to get beets into my diet (These colorful root vegetables contain powerful nutrient compounds that help protect against heart disease, birth defects, inflammation and certain cancers.), I readily agreed.

It seems Melissa's has done the dirty work for us. The beets are peeled, steamed, and ready for eating. How easy is that?  In no time I'd prepared a delicious, healthy salad thanks to this convenient package of beets. Most importantly, they are good!

As I sat eating my salad, shaking my head at how good they were and how heathy I was eating, I started to think about all sorts of other ways to prepare them.  More about that next week. For today, here's the recipe for the salad.

To your health (and palate)!

Baby Greens, Beet, Walnut, and Blue Cheese Salad

Adapted from a recipe from the Hot and Hot Fish Club, Birmingham, AL

Makes 6 first-course servings

3 tablespoons fresh lemon juice

1 tablespoon Dijon mustard

1 medium shallot, minced

1 1/2 teaspoons chopped fresh thyme

1/2 cup olive oil

1 5-ounce bag mixed baby greens

1 8-oz. pkg. Melissa’s Peeled & Steamed Ready to Eat Baby Beets

1 cup crumbled blue cheese

1 cup walnuts, toasted, coarsely chopped

Whisk first 4 ingredients in small bowl to blend. Gradually whisk in oil. Season dressing to taste with salt and pepper.

Toss greens in large bowl with enough dressing to coat. Divide greens among 6 plates. Top with diced beets, dividing equally. Sprinkle with cheese and walnuts. Drizzle lightly with remaining dressing and serve.

This post is linked to:

What's Cooking Wednesday