Cake, Batter, and Bowl

Roasted Beet, Mango, and Avocado Spinach Salad

Salads

My problem on weekends is that I tend to sleep in until after noon and then half the day is already gone! Plus, then I end up not being able to fall asleep until very late on Sunday night, which makes it hard to get up on Monday morning. But, I struggle to change this habit for two reasons, 1.) maybe my body just needs the sleep? and 2.) I better enjoy it now because I’m sure I won’t be able to sleep in after we have kiddos! I’ve decided middle ground may be the way to go and got up by 10:30 both mornings this weekend. I was super productive and ran a bunch of errands and assembled my DIY light box!

I can’t believe I didn’t get around to putting this light box together earlier! My hubby bought the lights months ago when he volunteered to make my light box, but when I learned of his grand plans to use PVC pipe and curtains to make a huge lighting studio, I realized things had gotten a bit out of control. I found this site and made a cheap version myself. I’m still playing around with it, but it’s nice to finally feel like a real food blogger!

I also made this lovely salad this weekend. The flavors were inspired by the Salad of Hiramasa Sashimi course we had at our anniversary dinner at Craigie on Main. I made a shallot vinaigrette that I mixed with spinach, roasted beets, mango, avocado, and toasted pine nuts. I don’t make “fancy” salads very often at home, but I think this one is worth taking a few extra minutes to assemble! It was also my first time roasting beets and I can’t believe I haven’t done it before.

Roasted Beet, Mango, and Avocado Spinach Salad
Printable Recipe

Ingredients:
1 large beet, scrubbed
1 cup chopped mango
1/2 avocado, chopped
1/4 cup finely chopped shallots
2 tablespoons olive oil
2 tablespoons red wine vinegar
1 tablespoon apricot jam
1/2 teaspoon salt
4 cups packed fresh spinach leaves
1/4 cup pine nuts, toasted

Directions:
Preheat oven to 400˚F. Wrap beet in aluminum foil, place on a baking sheet, and roast in the oven for 1 to 1 1/2 hours or until tender. Let cool for 10 minutes, then peel and slice into chunks.

Meanwhile, heat 1 tablespoon olive oil over medium heat and sauté shallots for 7 to 10 minutes or until tender. Cool to room temperature and whisk in remaining tablespoon olive oil, red wine vinegar, apricot jam, and salt.

Toss spinach leaves with vinaigrette, roasted beets, mango, and avocado, and top with toasted pine nuts. Makes 2 servings.

Nutrition: 435 calories, 32.3g fat, 7.6g fiber, 6.5g protein per serving
Cost: $2.01 per serving

Honey Mustard Spinach Salad with Chicken Quinoa Cakes and Saucy Mama Mustard Giveaway

It’s been almost 10 months since I’ve entered a recipe contest, how sad is that? I tend to pick posting on my blog over entering contests, but I wish there were more hours in the day to do it all! I recently came across the Skinny Mama Cooking with Mustard Contest, a...

Roasted Brussels Sprouts Salad with Grapes

My lab headed over to Sweet Cheeks in Fenway to stuff ourselves with BBQ for lunch one day last week. The restaurant was recently opened by Tiffani Faison, who was a finalist on both Top Chef Season 1 and Top Chef All-Stars. You can probably guess that I was...

Roasted Fig Arugula Salad with Cornbread Croutons

I recently checked out Upstairs on the Square with these lovely ladies and enjoyed a grilled halumi and fig salad nestled in a cornmeal crepe. I loved this combination of flavors and when I scored some fresh figs the other day at Costco, I immediately...

Southwestern Mini Meatball Salad

For a couple of years, I was in the habit of buying pre-washed salad mixes. You know, the kind that come in a bag or plastic box. This lead to the donation of our OXO salad spinner to the Good Will, because it was just sitting there collecting dust and taking up...

Apple Spinach Salad with Maple Walnuts

Thanksgiving is right around the corner and I’m so excited! I’ve never cooked for the holiday before and I can’t wait to finally take a stab at roasting a turkey. We bought all our groceries this weekend (except the turkey, which we’ll picking up Wednesday from this...

Peach Salad with Pecan Chicken and Gorgonzola

"Movin' to the country, gonna eat a lot of peaches, I'm movin' to the country, I'm gonna eat me a lot of peaches....If I had my little way, I'd eat peaches every day"...especially now that they're in season! There's nothing quite like a fresh peach that is so ripe the...

Summer Spinach Salad with Red Pepper Dressing

I recently noticed that while I've posted over 25 desserts, there's only one lonely salad hanging out in my recipe index. Aww, poor salad. It's funny because although I actually always enjoy digging into a lovely pile of greens at a restaurant, I’ve never quite gotten...

Asparagus Arugula Salad with Ricotta and Goat Cheese

Time for our anniversary trip recap! Apolinaras and I got married over Memorial Day weekend in 2004 and we always try to take a little vacation over the holiday weekend to celebrate. This year we went to Portland, Maine, which is a super fun foodie destination right...