Roasted Beet and Berry Salad

A light, refreshing summer salad with roasted beets, seasonal berries, greens and a strawberry balsamic poppy seed dressing. Perfect as a vegan side dish or light lunch!

I love the gorgeous, vibrant colors of this salad. It's so nutritious, and I'm a firm believer that the prettier your vegetables look, the more likely you are to eat them.

This salad has a little bit of everything. Perfectly roasted, slightly caramelized red and yellow beets, blueberries, blackberries, radish, pistachios, leafy greens and the BEST strawberry poppy seed dressing.

I always forget how good poppy seed dressing tastes. I almost never make it at home, but after trying this recipe a few times, I'll surely be adding it to my meal plan!

This summery salad makes for a great side dish. If you want to serve it up as a main dish, feel free to add a protein (vegan or otherwise). For vegan options, I'd suggest white beans, chickpeas or grilled tofu.

It would be great alongside these cauliflower steaks for a delicious summer dinner!

Ingredients

Salad

• Beets: we use a mix of regular red beets and slightly sweeter, less earthy yellow beets. Both are widely available at most grocery stores. Feel free to use one variety or the other, or both!
• Berries: blueberries and blackberries are great for this salad, but you could also add in or sub strawberries, raspberries, peaches, apricots, or another seasonal fruit. Dried cherries would be great, too, if you don't have anything fresh.
• Radish: we love using vibrant pink watermelon radish in this salad, but regular radishes work, too!
• Pistachios: we typically opt for unsalted pistachios. Also, do yourself a favor and buy them pre-shelled. Nobody wants to waste 30 minutes shelling pistachios for a salad!
• Leafy greens: we used a mix of baby spinach, kale and microgreens. Arugula or a spring mix work, too. Feel free to use any mix you'd like.

Dressing

• Olive oil: extra virgin olive oil is my go-to for dressings and sauces. You could also use something more neutral, like grapeseed or avocado oil.
• Strawberries: roughly chop up some fresh strawberries to add to the dressing for a sweet, tart flavor. Everything goes in the blender, so no need to be super precise.
• Balsamic vinegar: we prefer the subtle sweetness of balsamic in this dressing, but you could also use red wine vinegar.
• Maple syrup: for a touch of sweetness. Feel free to sub with another liquid sweetener like honey or agave.
• Salt and pepper to taste
• Poppy seeds: the key ingredient! These get whisked in after the dressing has been blended. If you don't have any poppy seeds on hand, the dressing still tastes great without them.

Instructions

First things first, get your beets roasting. To prep them, wash and peel the beets, then slice into equal-sized wedges.

Red beets tend to stain pretty easily (including your skin). If you don't want your hands to be bright red for the next 24 hours, I suggest using a disposable glove for this step.

Toss the beets in a bit of olive oil, salt and pepper and roast at 400˚ for about 30 minutes. When they're fork tender and slightly caramelized around the edges, they're good to go!

While the beets are in the oven, get started on the dressing. Add everything but the poppy seeds to a blender and blend until smooth and creamy. Whisk or stir in the poppy seeds.

Toss the greens in a few tablespoons of the dressing, then add in remaining salad ingredients and toss. Spoon or drizzle more dressing on top and serve right away.

This salad doesn't sit well at room temp. If you're not planning to eat it right away, we suggest waiting to add the dressing until just before serving.

More summer salad recipes you'll love:

• Blackberry Avocado Arugula Salad
• Strawberry Quinoa Salad
• Buffalo Cauliflower Salad
• Grilled Corn, Black Bean and Avocado Salad
• Greek Chickpea Salad

If you make this roasted beet and berry salad, we’d love for you to leave a comment and rating below! We also love to see your creations on Instagram – tag us at @crowded_kitchen so we can see what you’ve been cooking.

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