Roasted Beet and Carrot Salad

I’m officially on the beet bandwagon these days and I’m not sad about it! Of course beets are hella healthy, not to mention sweet and earthy and delightful in a salad with carrots, spinach, feta, and pistachios. Toss them all together with a tarragon vinaigrette you could practically drink, and ding ding ding this roasted beet and carrot salad is a winner!!

Sometimes I’m surprised by how my recipes evolve as I’m developing them. This recipe for roasted beet and carrot salad, for example, started out as “air fryer beets with tarragon vinaigrette.” The tarragon vinaigrette survived the recipe development process pretty much intact, but I discovered I really don’t like air fried beets–they come out bitter. What I do know for sure is that I love cold roasted beets in a salad with feta and nuts. And carrots. And now I’m roasting beets every week and bringing this salad for Easter dinner.

Beets and carrots pack nutritional punch

My inspiration for this recipe came from reading up about vegetables that may help with heart health and inflammation. Beets are apparently a real superstar in this category, with benefits that range from lowering blood pressure and improving blood flow to providing a large bioavailable dose of  anti-inflammatory antioxidants. In terms of nutrition, that’s hard for a single ingredient to, uh, beat (sorry!).

That doesn’t mean carrots are underachievers. They contain four different types of phytochemicals, phenolics, carotenoids, polyacetylenes, and ascorbic acid, which according to this study, offer antioxidant, anti-inflammatory, cholesterol-lowering, and anti-tumour properties. This is in addition to their widely known benefit to eye and skin health from high amounts of beta-carotene. 

Add to that a serving of fiber-rich, vitamin and mineral-loaded spinach, a punch of flavor with feta cheese and a bit of richness with a handful of pistachios and it’s hard to imagine why I wouldn’t be eating this beet and carrot salad all. the. time. 

Ingredients and substitutions

For the salad

Beets - I used smaller red beets in this recipe. If you use larger beets, you may need to adjust the roasting time. Golden beets work too, I just thought the red beets were pretty with the carrots :).

Carrots - I used bigger carrots here so I could get the shape I wanted, but often smaller carrots are a bit sweeter.

Shallots - These roast up so sweet and yummy and add delicious sweetness to this beet and carrot salad. Red onion cut into thick wedges will work too. 

Olive Oil - As always I recommend using an organic extra virgin olive oil from a single country.

Kosher salt - I use Morton’s kosher salt. Halve the salt if you are using table salt. 

Baby spinach - I take the time to go through and take the stems off my spinach. If your spinach leaves are on the bigger side you can also give them a rough chop.

Feta cheese - I buy the good stuff for this recipe, in block form rather than pre-crumbled. I like big chunks of feta to go with the chunks of veg.

Pistachios - Trader Joe’s has great prices on nuts, so that’s where I got my pistachios. Walnuts also taste great in this salad.

For the vinaigrette

Champagne vinegar - You definitely want to go with a good champagne vinegar in this vinaigrette. It’s not as strong as white wine vinegar and this O Champagne Vinegar is particularly well-balanced. If you don’t have any on hand, substitute apple cider vinegar.

Dijon mustard - I use Maille, which has a better balance of acidity and flavor than Grey Poupon.

Fine sea salt - I always, always use fine sea salt to season my vinaigrette. It’s less salty than kosher salt and easier to work with in small quantities.

Onion powder - I’m seriously sensitive to raw onion so this is my compromise. You can substitute 2 teaspoons of fresh minced shallot instead if you prefer.

Fresh tarragon - worth the splurge! I generally grow my own but I don’t usually have a problem finding it at the grocery store when I am between harvests.

Tips for the perfect roasted beet and carrot salad

Save time with pre-cooked beets: This is the best way to shave a little time off the prep for this salad. Pre-cooked beets are widely available in the produce section of many grocery stores, and I’ve even seen them in the prepared foods section at Costco.

Cut your vegetables to about the same size: Cutting your vegetables to approximately the same size makes pretty much any salad easier to consume. You can cut them to whatever size and shape you prefer, just keep in mind that vegetables that are really small tend to get lost when they are tossed with spinach leaves. 

Marinate your roasted beets and carrots for the best flavor: Allowing your beets and carrots to marinate in the vinaigrette for a couple of hours allows the vinegar-y goodness to permeate and the tarragon flavor to really stand out in the finished salad.

Prep ahead and storage

Prepare the vinaigrette and roast your vegetables up to a day in advance. Let the veggies marinate in the dressing overnight in the refrigerator. For best results, add the rest of the ingredients just before serving. Spinach doesn’t really save well after it’s been tossed with dressing, so I don’t recommend saving leftovers, but if you keep the veggies separate in the fridge they will keep for up to 4 days.

I love hearing from you!

How did you like this roasted beet and carrot salad? Drop me a question, a comment, or a rating and let me know...you’ll make my day! And don’t forget to save and share this recipe by pinning it to Pinterest or saving to Samsung Food or sharing on Instagram or Facebook.