When Rob and I were first dating and married his photo lab was in the same shopping center as a little Italian food place called Babbo. We ate there a lot. Like, a LOT. It may or may not have contributed to my 15 lb weight gain our first year married. Then we moved out to a suburb and were so excited when they opened a Babbo a few miles from our house a couple years ago. Unfortunately the one bummer part about having three small children is we just really can't eat out very often on account of the emotional duress we face when sitting still in public with them. BUT a few weeks ago my mom was in town and she babysat so we could go out and we ate this salad at Babbo....it. is. so. good. They had it paired with a champagne vinaigrette which is to die for, kind of sweet, kind of tart--just so good! I had to make it at home.
We ate this for dinner one night with a piece of crusty bread and we both loved it. If you wanted extra protein some grilled chicken would be really good on this too. I paired it with a vinaigrette I love from Our Best Bites. I have to warn you that beets die your skin, your counters and your goat cheese, so deal carefully with them, but they are so good! I think if you were in a pinch and wanted to sub a can of no salt-added whole beets and just chop them up and roast them for a minute it would work fine too.
Roasted Beets & Brussels Sprouts Salad with Goat Cheese
For four dinner-sized or one large family-style salad:
3-4 Tb olive oil
1 lb brussels sprouts, rinsed and quartered
3 large beets, cleaned and peeled and chopped
4-6 Tb.sliced almonds
4-6 Tb. dried cranberries
1/2 red onion, thinly sliced
about 12 c. spring mix or field greens
6 oz soft goat cheese
Heat oven to 420. I needed to use two cookie sheets, but it will depend on how many veggies you have and whether or not you're roasting the beets. Spread a thin layer of the brussels sprouts and beets. Roast for 20-35 minutes, stirring in the middle, until the brussels sprouts are golden and somewhat crispy and the beets are soft. (The beets may take longer.) Remove from the oven and make the dressing while the veggies cool a bit. To make the salad layer greens, brussels sprouts, beets, almonds, cranberries, red onion and goat cheese. Drizzle with dressing and serve immediately.
Honey Red Wine Vinaigrette
recipe from Our Best Bites
1/2 c. red wine vinegar
1/2 c. honey
2 cloves garlic, chopped
1 tsp. sea salt
1 tsp. black pepper
1 c. canola oil
Combine vinegar, honey, garlic, salt & pepper in the jar of your blender. Run the blender until everything is combined. Turn the blender to low and slowly stream the oil in while the blender is running. Pour the dressing into a jar and refrigerate up to a month. (It will never last that long because it is so yummy:)
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The moment I opened this page, I felt hungry. Who wouldn’t? Just looking at that picture of delicious sauteed brussels sprout makes me want to prepare my own right at this very minute. But after reading further, the hunger was replaced by admiration. Thanks for sharing your dish and your story about how you wanted your kids to appreciate food. More interesting and inspiring posts like this please.
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