Roasted Butternut & Beet Salad

with goat cheese, pepitas, sunflower seeds and a maple balsamic vinaigrette

A colorful, multi-dimensional winter salad full of vibrant colors, lovely flavors and contrasting textures. I first created this salad a while ago when I had some leftover maple roasted beets on hand and a bunch of butternut squash on hand. I decided to roast up some butternut squash and thought that the two together in a salad would be pretty spectacular.

And they totally were! I felt like I was eating two different salads … as soon as I tired of beets, I’d take a bite of butternut squash. And then I’d get tired of butternut squash and switch over to beets. I found myself switching back and forth and loving every single bite of my salad.

I couldn’t get enough of this salad … so I made it again. And again … I’m not exactly sure how many times I made this salad before I ran out of beets, but when I did, it was a sad day. The butternut alone in the salad was good, but not quite AS good as the butternut salad WITH the beets. It was just so wonderful having different flavors to play between.

The toasted pepitas and sunflower seeds gave the salad just the right bit of crunch and the creamy goat cheese was the perfect counterpoint to both the beets and squash. The maple balsamic dressing totally tied it all together and the greens, well, you just need some good dark greens to balance it all out.

Nutritionally, this salad boasts lots of fiber and nutrients including:

• Butternut squash contributes fiber, vitamins A and C, calcium, iron, magnesium, phosphorus and calcium
• Beets have many of the same benefits, but they add vitamins B6 and folate, dietary nitrates, magnesium and manganese
• Pumpkin seeds (pepitas) and sunflower seeds for protein and heart healthy fats (omega-3s and omega-6s)
• Goat cheese which adds protein but also provides caprylic acid which has been found to possess antibacterial, antiviral, antifungal and anti-inflammatory properties.
• Dark leafy greens which have SO many amazing health benefits.

So overall this salad is good for your heart, your digestive system, your bones, skin and hair, for managing diabetes, maintaining a healthy weight, lowering risk of cancer, improving athletic performance, fighting inflammation and boosting your immune system.

Best of all, for those of us who are working on lowering our cholesterol (hello that’s me!), this salad totally rocks for that. Just make sure to limit the amount of goat cheese you sprinkle on, but really you don’t need much.

I hope you try this lovely salad … I fell in love with the tastes, textures and the colors. It’s such a pretty reminder in the midst of the drab grays of winter that color really does exist. IMHO, it’s a salad that’s good for your body AND your soul.

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Looking for more winter salad recipes? 

I love salads all year long … but winter salads give me hope for spring. Here are some bright winter salads that will warm your soul, with ingredients that are available even in the midst of winter in middle America.

• My mom’s orange, date and almond salad
• Wilted Kale, Quinoa and Bacon Salad
• Cara Cara Orange Chicken Goat Cheese Salad
• Carrot Lime Salad with Basil, Cilantro, Apricots & Pine Nuts
• Sweet Potato & Brown Rice Salad
• Thai Peanut Noodle Salad with Chicken
• Vietnamese Pulled Pork Salad
• Spicy Pineapple Mango Chicken Salad with fiery roasted pineapple vinaigrette
• Golden Raisin Gorgonzola Kale Salad
• White Cheddar Green Pea Salad
• Holiday Kale Quinoa Salad
• Clementine Rice & Kale Salad