Beet & Blue Cheese Salad

Tender lettuce with roasted beets and a light blue cheese dressing

My fiance and I just finalized the menu for our wedding reception after having our official tasting on Friday. We were really impressed with all of the food we tried and had the most trouble choosing our starting salad since we really liked two of the options equally. One of our favorites was a butter lettuce and roasted beet salad with a blue cheese dressing (which we ultimately decided against because we thought some of our guests might not like beets or blue cheese). The buttermilk dressing was unusually light for a blue cheese salad but had a great flavor that I tried to recreate for this dish. The ingredients are really simple but pack a punch from the sweet roasted beets, crunchy lettuce, garlicky chives, and tangy dressing. It's an elegant starting course to any meal and most elements can be prepared in advance for easy entertaining.


More Beet Salads:
- Grilled Kale, Beet, & Burrata Salad
- Roasted Beets, Burrata, & Arugula
- Beet, Orange, & Goat Cheese Salad


Beet & Butter Lettuce Salad with Buttermilk Blue Cheese Dressing:
For Dressing

• Combine 2 oz. blue cheese, 1/4 c. buttermilk, and 1/4 c. creme fraiche in a blender and puree til smooth.
• Season with salt and pepper and set aside.*

For Salad

• Trim the roots off of 1 bunch of beets** and wrap each individually in foil.
• Place the beets in a 400F oven for 45 minutes, or until a fork can be inserted without any resistance.
• Let beets cool, rub off the skins with your hands, and cut into quarters.***
• Wash and dry 1 head of butter lettuce and divide onto four plates.
• Drizzle some of the dressing over the lettuce and sprinkle with a handful of garlic chives.
• Add some beets on top of each plate and sprinkle with freshly ground pepper.

Serves four (side dish)

*If dressing is too thick, add a little more buttermilk. Can be made a day in advance and kept in the fridge.

**About 4-5 beets. I like the small-medium size beets for this salad.

***Beets can be roasted a day or two in advance and kept in the fridge.