Roasted Beet Salad

Believe it or not, Beep found the original recipe for this salad, which has a much snappier title, Warm Tri Beet Salad with Hand-Torn Croutons, on a Discovery Health link. (I included the link to the original above.) And to think . . . Beep always despised beets, said, "They taste like dirt smells!" I don't go to all the trouble that the original recipe does, but I think mine is just as good and much less fuss.
This is a great basic that you can tailor to your specific tastes or maybe to whatever you happen to have in the pantry and fridge. I swap out the cheese, the greens, and the nuts depending how the mood strikes me or what I have on hand, so get creative and make it your own. May I also suggest that you make a few extra beets, serve them warm the night before as a side dish.

INGREDIENTS:
Roasted Beets:
3 golden beets
3 red beets
1-2 T olive oil
1/3 C hot water
1 chicken bouillon cube
S & P to taste

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Wash the beets well and remove the greens. Dissolve the bouillon in the water. In a roasting pan just large enough to accommodate the beets, add the beets along with the remaining ingredients, drizzling the olive oil over the beets. Cover with foil and roast in the oven for 30 minutes or until the beets are fork tender. Remove from the oven when tender and allow beets to cool enough to handle. Wipe of the skins, throwing them away and cut off the stem and root. Cut the beets into the desired shape, keeping them in separate bowl so the colors won't bleed. I usually cut them into a large julienne, but you can slice them, dice them, whatever you like. Drizzle with a little lemon juice, olive oil, salt and pepper, store in an airtight container in the refrigerator until ready to serve.

Salad:
mixed greens to serve 4
8 oz. blue cheese
1 C pecans chopped & toasted

Clean greens, toss with cheese & nuts.

Dressing:
1 1/2 tsp. dijon style mustard ( I use, German Thomy Scharfer Senf)
1/2 C light vinegar, cider, white wine, whatever you have on hand
2 T balsamic vinegar
1 T orange juice
1/2 tsp. salt
12 grinds fresh black pepper
2 oz. olive oil
pinch of sugar to taste

Stir together first 6 ingredients, then slowly drizzle in olive oil while whisking to emulsify. Whisk in sugar, taste and add additional seasoning if needed.

ASSEMBLY:
Casual, toss all the ingredients and dress, serve. Formal, dress the greens and beets separately, arrange cheese, beets and pecans on top of greens, serve.