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Close up photo of a salad with ricotta, beets, oranges and hazelnuts
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Salt-Roasted Beet Salad

This fresh salad feels decadent with salt-roasted beets, flavourful orange, thyme, and pears, and incorporates your favourite greens with homemade ricotta.
Prep Time15 minutes
Cook Time45 minutes
Resting time2 hours
Total Time3 hours
Course: Appetizer, Salad, Side Dish
Cuisine: American, French
Keyword: Beets, Greens, Hazelnuts, Orange, Pear, Ricotta, Roasted Beets, Salad, Salt-roasted
Servings: 6 Small Salads

Equipment

  • Aluminum foil
  • Oven safe dish or sheet pan
  • Paper towel
  • Shallow bowl
  • Small Bowl
  • Whisk
  • Large bowl
  • Frying pan small
  • 6 Small salad plates

Ingredients

Salt-Roasted Beets

  • 6 Small beets
  • 1 orange
  • 6 Sprigs fresh thyme
  • 1 tbsp olive oil
  • 1/8 cup kosher salt

Salad

  • 1 batch homemade ricotta (see above for link recipe) or about 1 cup store-bought ricotta
  • 1 container herb salad mix or spring mix salad
  • 1 bunch arugula
  • 1/8 cup hazelnuts
  • 1 pear

Citrus Dressing

  • 3 tbsp olive oil extra virgin
  • 1 tbsp orange juice leftover from segmenting the orange
  • 1 tbsp sherry vinegar
  • 1 tsp Dijon mustard
  • 1 tsp honey

Instructions

  • Preheat oven to 350° F
  • Peel orange, and tear peel into 6 pieces. Set peels aside.
  • Wash greens and dry in a salad spinner or with paper towels. Set aside in a large bowl.
  • Brush outsides of beets with olive oil. Roll beets in kosher salt to coat. Wrap each beet in aluminum foil with a sprig of thyme and a piece of orange peel. Place foil-wrapped beets in an oven safe dish and bake for 30-45 min, or until a fork can easily pierce a beet. When the beets are cool enough to handle, wipe off the salt and beet skins with paper towels. Discard orange peels and thyme sprigs. Cool completely, then refrigerate. Beets should be ice-cold before the salad is assembled.
  • While the beets are roasting, segment the orange, working over a small bowl to catch the juice. Save the juice from orange segmenting for the dressing.
  • Toast the hazelnuts by placing them in a dry frying pan over medium heat, stirring often and not allowing nuts to burn; stir until fragrant and remove from heat. Set aside.
  • Slice the pear into thin wedges; discard seeds and stem. Set aside.
  • In the small bowl with the orange juice, prepare the dressing by whisking together the olive oil, juice, sherry vinegar, mustard and honey until smooth.
  • Assemble the salad by tossing the greens in the dressing, topping with small dollops of ricotta, slices of pear, and hazelnuts. Slice beets into wedges and place on the salad. Divide salad onto 6 small plates. Serve immediately.

Notes

Wine pairing: A crisp, fruity rosé or sauvignon blanc would be perfect with this salad.
Let me know if you made this recipe! Tag @dinneratlulus on Instagram and hashtag it #dinneratlulus.