Chopped Romaine Salad with Beets and Apple

Beets, apples, Gruyere cheese and toasted walnuts are buried in this pile of romaine lettuce and dressing.

I wanted to make this salad a while ago, nearly fell out when I saw the price of Belgian endive and skipped the salad entirely. This time I was willing to give it a go, but planned to buy the endive the day I was to prepare the salad. One thing for sure was that I didn't want it to wilt in the fridge. I didn't realize this salad would come up so soon after having gone to the store so skipped the endive.

The romaine quantity was increased to make up for the loss in volume. And since my red Braeburn apple was a small one, used the whole thing.

Chopped Romaine Salad with Beets and Apple

2 teaspoons Dijon mustard
1/2 teaspoon honey
1 tablespoon cider vinegar
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon pepper
3 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil

8 oz. romaine lettuce heart, chopped (3 packed cups)

4 oz. (2 whole) cooked beets, peeled, chopped (about 1 cup)
1 small red apple, chopped (about 1 cup)
1/3 cup toasted walnuts, coarsely chopped*
1/2 cup (4 oz) chopped aged Gruyère cheese

Combine mustard and honey in small bowl.

Whisk in vinegar, salt and pepper; whisk in oil.

Vinegar, salt and pepper whisked in with fork.


Olive oil dumped in.


Olive oil whisked in with a fork.

Meanwhile, boil beats until fork-tender, peel and chop if you haven't already done that.

Whole beets in water heated to boiling.


Boiled beets, cooling.

Water drained from beets -- they look almost exactly like they did before I started! These were then peeled and diced.

Toast walnuts by placing them on a baking sheet and baking them at 375°F 4-6 minutes or until brown and fragrant.

You'll be able to see some of the nut oil on the nut meats -- they'll be shiny.

Combine romaine, beets, apple, walnuts and cheese in large bowl.

Dress entire salad and toss or make individual salads and dress accordingly.


This salad was awesome! I love beets and having some fresh ones was neat. But I have to admit that I don't know if it'd be noticeable with canned beets except they'd be mushier. The nut quantity was right on, which is key for me. I don't care for copious amounts of nuts in anything. The dressing was great too -- not too sweet and fairly twangy. Presentation was a little deceiving since everything settled to the bottom and was hidden by the fluffy lettuce. The beets also bled a little, making the lettuce edges, apples and even the cheese a red hue.  Overall though, worth the effort.

Cost:

• dressing ingredients: I'll SWAG a $1
• romaine lettuce: $0.79
• beets: $1.26
• apple: $0.50
• Gruyere cheese $4.85

Total: $8.40, or $2.10 per each of four servings. That's pretty hefty for a salad, but was primarily due to the cheese. I don't see why you couldn't use parmesan, which is much more cost-friendly. I can get that for about $4/8 oz, which is less than half the price of the Gruyere. Plus you'd use less as it is more potent.

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Rodney ate the other half of this entire salad for lunch with what was left of the Canadian bacon (about 6 oz) as well as a hard-boiled egg. Apparently he used all of the remaining dressing which turned out to be a bit too much. Regardless, this went over well enough for Rodney to have what was left on day two.