Roast Beet Salad + Sea Salt Granola + Honey Tarragon Dressing

This is one of our favorite salads here in the Chubby Vegetarian home kitchen. The addition of granola to a salad seems unusual, but to me, its nutty flavor and crunchy texture are right at home atop sliced beets and goat cheese. What more can I say? I love it.

Don't be deterred by the amount of steps as it's really quite simple to put together. Also, there is little hands-on time. Just make sure to make the beets ahead of time since they cook for an hour and a half.

Roast Beet Salad + Sea Salt Granola & Honey Tarragon Dressing 

(serves 4)

Roast Beets (recipe follows)

1/2 cup Sea Salt Granola (recipe follows)

Honey Tarragon Dressing (recipe follows)

4 cups lettuce (Boston or baby romaine)

4 ounces soft goat cheese (crumbled)

Follow the directions below to make the beets, granola, and dressing. The beets and the dressing are proportioned correctly for this recipe, but the granola will make way more than you need for this dish. I guarantee it will be eaten. That stuff is addictive. Once your components are made, all that's left to do is assemble the salad. Start by layering beets and lettuce together like you would a caprese salad -- oh, and I think each serving should get about 5-6 slices of beet. Next, drizzle the assemblage with about a tablespoon of the Honey Tarragon Dressing. Finish with an ounce of crumbled goat cheese and 1/8 cup Sea Salt Granola.

Roast Beets:

5 medium red beets 

1/2 cup white wine

4 cloves garlic (smashed)

2 tablespoons soy sauce

8 sprigs thyme

1/4 teaspoon black pepper

1/4 teaspoon salt

2  tablespoon olive oil

Preheat your oven to 350 degrees. Trim 1/8 inch from both the stem end and the root end of the beet. Place beets in a small casserole dish along with the wine, garlic cloves, soy sauce, thyme, pepper, salt, and olive oil. Cover tightly with aluminum foil and bake for 1 1/2 hours. Allow beets to cool completely. Peel skin from the beet by rubbing it with a damp paper towel just as though you're polishing it -- the outer skin will rub right off. Slice beets in 1/4-inch slices. Discard cooking liquid or use it to make a colorful salad dressing.

Sea Salt Granola

(makes about 5 cups)

1/4 cup brown sugar

1/4 cup brown rice syrup*

1/3 cup canola oil

2 tsp. vanilla

2 cups oats

1/3 cup sliced almonds (raw, unsalted)

1/3 cup pecans  (raw, unsalted)

1/3 cup pepitas/pumpkin seeds  (raw, unsalted)

1 tablespoon sea salt (no substitutions)

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Whisk the sugar, syrup, oil, vanilla, and salt. Add dry ingredients and combine. Spread it all out on a baking sheet. Bake it for 10 minutes, stir it up, and then bake it for 10 more minutes. It should be toasted and ready by then. It'll last about a week.

*Brown rice syrup is a key ingredient here, so make the effort to find it. It's not too difficult to locate. It is always in stock at Whole Foods and other natural foods stores.

Honey Tarragon Dressing

1 tablespoon lemon juice

1 tablespoon honey
1/2 teaspoon minced tarragon

1.2 teaspoon minced chives
1/4 teaspoon Maldon salt 

1/4 teaspoon cracked black pepper
1/4 cup olive oil

In a small bowl, add the lemon juice, honey, tarragon, chives, salt, and pepper together. Drizzle the olive oil into the mixture as you whisk to emulsify the dressing. Set mixture aside.