Spinach Salad With Roasted Beets and Gruyere Cheese

Ok, this is more a post about feeding myself rather than feeding my family.

I have made an amazing discovery about myself:  I love beets.  This may not seem like such an earth-shattering revelation, but for me it is. You see, I am, quite honestly, a picky eater. Growing up I was like my son, to whom very few foods are acceptable. As an adult my range of culinary tastes has broadened significantly, but comparatively speaking I am still pretty picky. That is, compared to my husband. The range of foods he likes is enormous compared to mine. Since we have been together he has doggedly insisted I try new foods (similar to the way we feed our children!), and he has had much success.  I owe the fact that I eat onions to him (when we were first together I refused to eat anything with onions in it. At his stubborn insistence I finally agreed to try onions, at about age 25, and realized I loved them). There are countless other things that he has made me try and I have realized I like, but for every success he has had there have been just as many failures. He has finally accepted that I will not eat steak, no matter how it is prepared, but he is still struggling with the fact that I can't stand peppers.

Beets are something my husband, Lex, cannot stand, and I always assumed I couldn't either. After all, I never ate beets growing up, as my dad despised them also. In fact the roots (hehe) of my beet prejudice go back at least as far as my father's parents. My grandfather hated beets so much that it somehow became a joke between him and my sister. They would exchange pickled beets for Christmas as a joke.

A couple of summers ago Lex and I were invited to dinner with some friends from his work. We were served salad with pickled beets that the hostess had grown and pickled herself. There is one thing that overpowers my stubborn picky eating habits, and that is my sense of politeness.  There was no way I was not going to eat those beets. But, lo and behold, I liked them! On the way home, my husband marvelled at the fact that I ate the beets. He was floored when I told him that I liked them, and I think he thought I was lying for fear he would go to work and tell his coworkers how much I hated the beets.

Recently, a favorite restaurant of mine put a salad on its menu that contains roasted beets.  When I ordered it, Lex said, "You know that has beets in it, right?" 

"Yes, that's why I ordered it."

"But you don't like beets."

"I think I do like beets."

"No, you don't. Beets are gross."

The beets were delicious.  I only wished my salad had contained more of them.

So that is my culinary badge of honor. A healthy, nutrition-packed veggie that my grandpa hated, my dad hated, my husband hates, and I apparently love.

The recipe:

Spinach Salad With Roasted Beets and Gruyere Cheese

1/3 cup thinly sliced red onions

10 kalamata olives, pitted and chopped

1/2 avocado, peeled and diced

2 large handfuls spinach

2 large beets, prepared according to Bretta's instructions for roasting veggies)

1 oz Gruyere cheese*

My go-to balsamic vinaigrette (recipe follows)

*Normally I use Romano cheese in salads, or blue cheese. But I had bought Gruyere for another recipe and thought I would try it in salad.  The result, I think, was amazing. The flavor of the cheese with the roasted beets was spectacular.

Toss all ingredients together and coat with dressing to taste.

Balsamic Vinaigrette

3-5 garlic cloves (depending on size)

1/2 tsp Dijon mustard

1/2 tsp sea salt

1/4 tsp ground pepper

1/4 cup balsamic vinegar

3/4 cup olive oil

Press garlic through a garlic press into a bowl or salad dressing container. Add other ingredients and whisk well until thoroughly combined.