Beet & Date Salad

We have a restaurant in town that has such yummy sandwiches and salads.  I was recently there and saw a new beet salad on the menu.  Anytime I can get my hands on a fresh beet salad you know I get it!  It was so delicious, and since I realized that I had all of the ingredients at home, I decided to recreate it the next day. 

This salad is a bit on the sweeter side - the roasted beets, chewy dates, carrots and citrus vinaigrette are sweet, but not in an overpowering way.  I paired this salad with some flaky whitefish (as I normally do with light salads) and the fish gave it a lovely balance.  If you don't eat fish you could easily add chicken or white beans for protein.

Beet and Date Salad
serves 4

4 beets, cleaned and roasted
4 dates, pitted and chopped
1 carrot, grated
handful of mixed greens for each serving
slivered almonds

Citrus Vinaigrette

Juice from one orange
1/4 c olive oil
splash of champagne vinegar
salt & pepper to taste

Preheat your oven to 400. Clean your beets and trim the ends off.  Place them in a small roasting dish with a half inch of water and bake until tender, about 20 min.  When they are done, let them cool and then peel the skins off.  Cube them and add to your salad.
Pit and chop your dates, grate your carrot and clean your greens.  Make your vinaigrette and then assemble the salad.  Greens, then dates, carrots and beets.  Dress and top with slivered almonds.

Fall dinners don't have to be difficult.  Roasting the beets is the longest part of this dish, and you could easily roast extra and keep them in the fridge to add to other salads throughout the week.  Bought dates and now you don't know what to do with them?  You can add them to smoothies for sweetness (if you are new to green smoothies, dates are a great way to add some sweetness without filling your cup with a ton of high sugar fruits), add it to your homemade nut milks for some natural sweetness or stuff with cheese and wrap in bacon (; 

Enjoy!
XoXo,
Nicole