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Roasted Beet Salad w/ Horseradish Vinaigrette, Pea Shoots + Pistachios

Local beets, garden-fresh pea shoots + a slightly-spicy horseradish dressing in combo w/ toasted pistachios equal a salad that is so dang good! Inspired by a salad I had at local restaurant!
I prefer the beets cold in this recipe so if you have time
stick them in the fridge for a bit, after you have roasted + cut them, in some
dressing to get them nice and chill! You could also roast the beets a day ahead and put the dressing on before you serve. If you mix warm beets with pea shoots they will get wilted + definitely don't want that! Plus, the salad wouldn’t stay fresh as long.
The best way to store the leftovers would be to make just enough for what you are serving and store the dressing, beets, pea shoots + nuts separately. Quinoa would be a fabulous foundation for this salad to make a whole meal or add is some protein like I did. Just be sure to season + dress well with the protein because it did make the salad lose a little of its flavor.
Course: Main Course, Salad, Side Dish
Keyword: Beets, Horseradish Vinaigrette, Pea Shoots, Pistachios, Salad
Servings: 2 people
Author: Alicia Raymond

Ingredients

Horseradish Vinaigrette

  • 1/4 cup extra virgin olive oil (EVOO)
  • 1 tbsp freshly squeezed lemon juice
  • 1 tbsp fresh horseradish grated on a microplane + loosely packed (add more if you want more of a kick!)
  • 1/2 shallot, finely minced
  • 1 medium clove garlic, pressed in garlic press or finely minced
  • 1 tsp honey
  • 1 tsp dijon mustard
  • Salt + Pepper to taste

Roasted Beet Salad with Horseradish Vinaigrette, Peas Shoots + Pistachios

  • 1 bunch fresh beets
  • 1 recipe horseradish vinaigrette
  • 1 bunch pea shoots
  • 1/3 cup pistachios
  • sea salt + freshly ground pepper
  • fresh lemon for squeezing on top of salad if desired

Instructions

Horseradish Vinaigrette

  • Pour all ingredients into a high speed blender (I used my nutribullet) or small food processor could work. Blend for a few seconds until well mixed and creamy.
  • Warning...Don't mix for too long or you will get a "whipped" dressing. Mine still had some chunks.
  • You could also just whisk all ingredients in a dish or glass measuring cup...your dressing would be bit more "chunky". I was going for a smoother consistency like I remembered at the restaurant.

Roasted Beet Salad with Horseradish Vinaigrette, Peas Shoots + Pistachios

  • Roast beets in oven:
    Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
    Cut off top and bottoms of beets. Wash well. Place each beet
    in a foil packet. If a beet is a lot larger than rest cut to match approximate size
    of rest (ex. I had smaller-sized beets and one very large one so I cut the
    large beet in 4 pieces and roasted two halves in one foil packet). Drizzle
    beets with EVOO and salt + pepper. Roast at 350 degrees for 50-60 minutes until fork
    tender. Some "packets" my need to come out of the oven sooner than others depending on
    size. Remove beets from oven and rinse in cool water to remove the skins.
  • Cut beets into 3/4 inch cubes. Place cut beets in a bowl and cover with some dressing. Place bowl in fridge to cool for however long you have.
  • Toast pistachios on a dry pan over medium heat until lightly toasted + fragrant while beets are in fridge.
  • Add pea shoots to bowl with chilled beets. Add salt + pepper over pea shoots + some more dressing to be able to coat everything. Toss in toasted pistachios and gently toss salad. See (+ taste) if need more dressing + add + toss if needed.
  • Spoon salad onto a platter (or bowl) and top with more pistachios + some sea salt + freshly cracked pepper. Add a squeeze of lemon if desired to top of salad.
  • Enjoy!

Notes

Beet roasting adapted from Love & Lemons.