I had this salad on my first trip to Italy, in a little Trattoria in Lucca. It was perfectly balanced and so “GENIUS”, that I had to find a napkin to jot down the exact ingredients.

If you cannot make it to Italy, you can now recreate this Italian masterpiece in your own kitchen. This salad is always a hit when I entertain, so you might want to double the recipe.

The secret is in roasting the beets in individual foil packets. Unlike boiling, the sugars remain inside the beets, so they caramelize and give the beets and sweeter, more concentrated flavor.

The acidity of the grapefruit (you can use oranges or tangerines too) cuts the sweetness of the beets. The creaminess of the goat cheese marries all the flavors together. If you are looking for a dairy free salad, you can leave it out.

I like my salads to have some texture and crunch, so I added walnuts, but you can also add candied or regular pecans, almonds, hazelnuts, or cashews.

The true success of a salad, is in the dressing, and this is no exception. The grapefruit zest adds brightness and zing, and it is simply brilliant on any salad.

I love to garnish my salads with poppy seeds. They just look so pretty. If you don’t have any, you can use chia, caraway, or black sesame seeds.

The dressing and beets can be made ahead of time and refrigerated. I prefer serving my salads at room temperature, so take the ingredients out of the fridge an hour or 2 before assembling the salad.

I hope this salad transports you to Italy….

Mangiare e divertirsi (translation.. eat and enjoy) xxx Chef MM

WATCH THE YOUTUBE VIDEO

Roasted Beet and Grapefruit Salad- Chef Melissa Mayo

Roasted Beet & Grapefruit Salad* 4 red beets* 3 yellow beets* 2 packs Butter lettuce* 1/4 red onion – sliced into thin semi circles* 3 Persian cucumbers – cu…