Roasted Golden Beet Salad with Greens

I made this salad the other night 30 minutes after the last shred of natural daylight I could have used. The photos do not do this salad justice. It's very good. Next time, I'm adding sliced almonds. It's ridiculously easy to prepare this, and I don't think you'll be disappointed.

I created this recipe with inspiration from the "Roasted beets and edamame and arugula" recipe in the February 2012 issue of Whole Living magazine.

Roasting the beets: 1 hour; Projected prep time: 10 minutes
(Printable Recipe)

3-4 medium golden beets, whole, scrubbed and peeled
Extra virgin olive oil
Approx. 1 1/2 cups torn fresh green chard
Approx. 2 1/2 cups fresh spinach (torn if the leaves are large)
1/4 cup chopped fresh basil leaves
1 tbsp. balsamic vinegar
2 tbsp. extra virgin olive oil
Sliced raw almonds, for garnish, if desired
Sea salt
Freshly ground black pepper

Preheat oven to 425 degrees. Prepare a parchment paper pocket large enough to hold the whole beets. Prepare an aluminum foil pocket large enough to hold the parchment paper and beets.

Scrub and peel beets, then place them whole in the parchment paper. Drizzle olive oil on top. Seal well by folding edges. Seal in aluminum foil and place on baking sheet.

Roast in oven for about an hour or until beets are tender. Let cool a few minutes, then slice.

While beets are cooling, prepare bowl of green chard, spinach and basil. Toss well.

Whisk balsamic vinegar and olive oil together in a small bowl.

Place sliced beets in bowl with greens and pour vinegar oil all over. Toss well, then season with salt and pepper, toss again. If desired, garnish with sliced almonds. Serve soon, or refrigerate.

Enjoy!