With the new year, many of us are making an effort to eat healthier. We recently asked you to share some of your favorite healthy recipes. We were overwhelmed by the number of recipes we received. We loved seeing everyone’s ideas. They ranged from Indian curries to fish recipes and even healthy desserts and smoothies. We tried several of them, and our favorite was this pickled beet and goat cheese salad with pistachio gremolata from Brittany at Beyond the Bayou.
This is something we’ll definitely be making again. It’s easy, healthy, and super flavorful. We loved how it incorporates so many flavors and textures — sweet, salty, crunchy, creamy, and spicy! We substituted Round Pond red wine vinegar for balsamic, steamed our beets, and used a serrano chili instead of fresno (which, for some reason our grocery store didn’t have). Otherwise we made everything the same as the original recipe here. We’re also being tempted by this salt baked fish from Brittany.
Thanks again to everyone who submitted their recipes!
- 1 lb golden beets
- 1 cup apple cider vinegar
- ⅓ cup sugar
- ½ cup water
- 1 t salt
- ¼ cup chopped pistachios
- 1 t fresno chiles, minced
- 1 T Italian parsley, chopped
- 2 T olive oil
- zest of ½ orange
- kosher salt
- pepper
- 4 oz goat cheese
- 1 orange supreme
- 1 T balsamic vinegar
- Heat oven to 350F degrees. Place beets into a pan and add ⅓ cup of water. Roast for 30-40 minutes until tender. [Note: we steamed our beets, which also worked well. Place whole beets in a steamer, and check doneness periodically with a fork. We like our beets a little firm, so we take them out when there is still a little resistance in the middle.]
- When beets are cool enough to handle, peel them and cut into medium size pieces. Place beets into a container and place aside. Bring vinegar, sugar, water, and salt to boil then pour over beets. Let beets pickle while you prepare gremolata or for at least an hour.
- Combine all pistachios, fresno chile, parsley, olive oil, orange zest and salt and pepper. Taste for seasoning.
- Toss beets and orange supremes with some balsamic vinegar or balsamic glaze. Position on plate and top with goat cheese and pistachio gremolata. Drizzle with me balsamic, a few cracks of black pepper and a pinch of salt.