Roasted Beet Salad with Lemon Vinaigrette

I'm a beet super fan.  I'll eat 'em any way you wanna put 'em in front of me.  Salads are high on the list.

I had this recipe ripped from a magazine and I couldn't stop thinking about it, so I got the beets at the farmer's market on Sunday.  I just needed to figure out what I wanted to make to go with it.  Spaghetti Aglio Olio was the winner.  If you've never had it, it's basically noodles smothered in olive oil, a ton of sauteed garlic and red pepper flakes.  I think parsley is traditional, but I use basil.  Then you dump a handful of parmesan on top.  Try to eat just one serving.

The salad was delicious.  Like, really, really good.  Like, I have enough ingredients to eat it again tonight.

Here's the recipe with my notes:

Roasted Beet Salad with Lemon Vinaigrette
Serves 4 

1 pound red, yellow, and/or candy-striped beets, rinsed and ends trimmed (I had almost two pounds of a mix of red and yellow)
2 Tbsp olive oil
9 C arugula, watercress, baby spinach, and/or mesclun (I used arugula - just enough for us)
1 8-ounce log goat cheese (I love me some goat cheese, but I had feta on hand)
1 recipe Lemon Vinaigrette
1/3 C broken walnuts, toasted (I had pecans)

Preheat oven to 425.  Cut beets in half.  Place in a single layer in a shallow baking pan.  Drizzle with olive oil; toss to coat.  Cover with foil and roast for 25 minutes.  Uncover and roast 15 minutes more or until tender.  Mine went about 30 minutes uncovered.  Cool; peel and slice 1/4 inch thick.  Set aside.  It was over 100 degrees here yesterday, so I cooked my beets early in the afternoon, before my entire kitchen was an oven, and just kept them at room temp until I was ready to use them.

Arrange greens on 4 individual salad plates.  Top with beets and crumbled goat cheese.  Drizzle with half of the Lemon Vinaigrette.  Sprinkle with walnuts.  Serve immediately.  Pass remaining vinaigrette.  I assembled our salad on a platter, rather than plates, so the kids could take as much or as little as they liked.

Lemon Vinaigrette

1/3 C extra virgin olive oil
1/2 tsp finely shredded lemon peel
1/4 C lemon juice (one lemon was the exact amount)
1 Tbsp snipped fresh tarragon or 1/2 tsp dried (I have fresh in the yard, so that's what I used)
1 Tbsp honey
1 tsp Dijon
1/4 tsp salt
1/8 tsp black pepper

Combine ingredients in a jar.  Cover and shake well. Serve immediately or cover and store in refrigerator.  Shake before serving.

Here's the salad on the platter:

Here's dinner on my plate:

Supposed to be triple digits again today.
Gotta head out and get everything watered. 
Again.