Roasted Beet Salad with Pears and Pecans 

Ingredients

Beet salad with goat cheese

• 1 large bunch of beets* (about 4 good size beets)
• 4 cups chopped salad greens
• 2 pears, sliced thin and placed in lemon juice
• Juice from 1 lemon
• 1 Tablespoon olive oil
• 1/3 cup chopped roasted pecans
• Optional: 2 oz goat cheese

Method

1. Bake pecans in a 350 F oven for about 10 minutes.
2. Place cut pears in lemon juice while preparing the greens.
3. Clean and cut greens in pieces of your choice.
4. Mix salad greens with olive oil and toss.
5. You choice: mix in the pears with lemon juice or use artistry to layer on greens.
6. Carefully add beets to avoid turning the salad completely red.
7. Top with chopped pecans and optional cheese.

Variation:
Toss beets with goat cheese to color the cheese a pretty rose color and also toss with the greens if you like and top with chopped pecans.

To bake the beets:
Preheat oven to 350 F. Scrub the beets but do not peel. Cut off the leaves but leave 1 inch of the stem and root attached. Wrap the beets in foil, individually or in small groups. Cook for about 45-60 minutes. Remove from the oven and when cool enough to handle, peel them and slice them into slices or quarter, depending upon the size. (The peel should easily slip off).

* If beets were purchased with greens, save them and cook as you would spinach. They taste great and are a terrific source of calcium and iron.