Beet & Green Bean Salad with Goat Cheese

There's nothing like an early fall salad of beets and green beans. 

I am really going to miss green beans once they disappear from the markets. Thankfully we'll probably have another few weeks (right? right?) before they disappear until next summer. This was also a lovely use for all the tiny little basil leaves left on my sad looking basil plant. 

If you can find golden beets (or even candy cane beets) definitely use them here. They're slightly milder in flavour and will not turn your salad bright pink. But of course regular red beets will work just fine too.

Adapted from Martha Stewart

Serves 4-6

6 large beets (see note above)

6 ounces of green beans, trimmed

2 tablespoons white wine vinegar (I've also used red-wine vinegar which was also lovely)

2 tablespoons minced or thinly sliced shallots

2 teaspoons dijon mustard

1/4 cup olive oil

coarse salt and freshly cracked pepper

1/4 cup fresh basil leaves (torn if large leaves)

2 ounces soft goat cheese, crumbled

Preheat oven to 425 degrees. 

Trim ends off beets and wrap in foil (or place in a dutch oven). Bake for about an hour or until tender. Let beets cool enough to handle and peel off skins (they should just slip off pretty easily). Dice into bite size pieces and set aside. 

Prepare an ice water bath in a bowl and set aside. Cook beans in boiling salted water until crisp tender and bright green, about 2 minutes. Drain and place in ice water bath to stop cooking. Once cool drain and add to beets. 

In a large bowl combine vinegar, mustard and shallots. Whisk in olive oil. Add beets and beans and toss to coat. Add basil and crumbled goat cheese and season with salt and pepper.