Roasted beet salad with oranges, beet greens and goat cheese

If you’re one of many who trim their beet greens and toss them into the compost bin, here’s a delicious use for them; wilted into a salad of roasted beets with bright oranges and soft goat cheese. The combination makes a tasty and unique winter salad.

Adapted from epicurious.com

Ingredients:

6 medium beets, greens attached
1 small sweet onion, thinly sliced
2 large oranges, peeled and halved, then sliced
1/3 cup red wine or balsamic vinegar
1/4 cup canola or extra-virgin olive oil
2 garlic cloves, crushed
1 tsp. brown sugar or honey
1 tsp. grainy mustard
1/2 cup crumbled soft goat cheese
freshly ground pepper

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 400°F.

2.
Trim greens from beets. Cut off and discard stems. Coarsely chop leaves and reserve. Wrap each beet in foil. Place beets directly on oven rack and roast until tender when pierced with fork, about 1 hour. Cool and peel beets, then slice or cut each into wedges.

3. Cook beet greens in a pot of boiling water just until tender, about 2 minutes. Drain well and squeeze to remove excess moisture. Put them into a bowl with the beets, onions and orange slices. Whisk vinegar, oil, garlic, sugar, mustard and orange zest; add to beet mixture with goat cheese and toss to coat. Season with pepper, and let stand at room temperature 1 hour before serving.