This salad is a stunner and it’s delicious and easy to make.  Everything can be made ahead of time too so it’s great for entertaining.  Each ingredient in this salad works together: the toasted walnuts give a great crunch and nuttiness, the basil is bright and fragrant, the feta is salty, and the beets are sweet.  I drizzled a little garlic infused olive oil to finish it off but regular will work too.  It’s so good – you can’t beat this one as a light salad or start to a meal (sorry, couldn’t help myself!).

Ingredients:

1 large golden beet
Basil pesto
Feta
Small handful of toasted walnuts
Olive oil (I used garlic infused but regular is delicious too)
Maldon sea salt

Roast the beet in a 400F oven for an hour or until you can easily insert a knife.  Allow for it to cool while you prep the other ingredients.
Toast walnuts in a dry pan over medium heat until they turn golden brown.

Basil pesto:

1 Large bunch basil (4 handfuls of leaves), washed clean and dry off excess water
1 large clove garlic
1/4 toasted pine nuts
Juice of 1/2 lemon
Olive oil
Salt
Pepper

In a dry pan over medium heat toast pine nuts until they start to turn golden brown.
In a food processor add the basil, garlic, pine nuts, lemon juice and mix it while adding the olive oil in a stream until it comes together into a paste/thick sauce consistency.  Add salt/pepper to taste.

Meanwhile, back to the golden beet.  Once cool – peel the outer skin and then slice using a mandolin if you have one or cut very thin with a knife.  Arrange slices on a plate in a single layer slightly overlapping.  Using your artistry dollop pesto to your liking then sprinkle crumbled feta, toasted walnuts, and Maldon sea salt flakes, and lastly drizzle with olive oil.

Enjoy!

Gxo