Beet & Feta Salad

I have had a love relationship with beets my whole life.

I remember first eating them at my aunt’s house when I was just a little girl. My mom has always pickled beets and I swear I can eat the entire container. They aren’t your typical vegetable and if you’ve never tried them before I highly suggest you do! A popular way of serving beets is on a bed of lettuce with goat cheese but I personally despise goat cheese. I am a lover of all things cheese, the smellier the better but me and goat cheese just don’t get along. Something about eating cheese that smells like a petting zoo just doesn’t do it for me. Now if we are going to talk about cheese that I can eat with anything (and pretty much do) that would be feta. Saying I love feta would be an understatement. I have been eating feta probably since the moment I was able to eat solid foods! So when I was craving beets the other day I decided to roast some up with feta and made an orange and rice vingear dressing adapted from here.

I started by cutting the stems off of the beets and placing them in a shallow roasting pan that has been lined with kosher salt. The idea of salt roasting helps to keep the juices from the beets from oozing out.

Roast them for about an hour at a temperature of 425°. You’ll know they’re done when you place a fork in it and there is a bit of give. Once you’ve taken them out allow them to cool. When they have cooled down just add a tiny bit of pressure to the skin and it will peel right off.