This weekend, we went to a presidential-themed dinner in honor of Lincoln’s birthday, Washington’s birthday (aka MY birthday), President’s Day and so and so forth. Most of the dishes were White House recipes or former presidents’ personal family recipes– it’s amazing what you can find on the interwebs. Our British friends even made the queen’s favorite pie (so clever, haha). I was in charge of the salad course and, after deciding that presidents don’t have particularly good taste in salads, I took the patriotic route and went with red, white and blue!

The red was a no-brainer. We’ve been OBSESSED with beets lately, and seem to eat them at least a couple times a week. We usually pair them with goat cheese or feta, so that took care of the white. The blue was a little tricky. Surprisingly few foods are naturally blue. So in the end, we went with the only one we could think of– blueberries! And it turns out that they pair very nicely with the sweet, earthy beets and tangy cheese.

I decided to serve the salad over a bed of greens for a little more variety, but I would be perfectly happy eating just the red, white & bluebs!

Red, White & Blue Beet Salad

(adapted from The Noshery)

serves 4

for the salad:

• 3 large beets, stalks removed
• 1 pint blueberries
• 4 oz goat cheese, crumbled
• 1 package mixed greens, for serving (optional)

for the dressing:

• 1/3 cup olive oil
• 1/4 cup red wine vinegar
• 2 tbsp honey
• 1 tbsp dijon mustard
• 1 clove garlic, minced
• Salt & pepper, to taste

Preheat oven to 400 degrees.

Wrap the beets individually in aluminum foil. Place in oven and roast for 1 hour.

While the beets are roasting, combine all the dressing ingredients together in a small jar. Shake until well combined. Refrigerate to let the flavors develop.

Unwrap the beets and let cool enough to handle. Carefully rub the beets with hands or paper towels to remove skins. Slice the beets into matchsticks.

In a bowl combine beets and blueberries. Toss with dressing. If you are serving with greens, spread them out on a platter. Top with beet mixture, then sprinkle goat cheese over top and serve. (Don’t add the goat cheese too far ahead of time or it will all turn pink from the beets!)

The salad turned out awesome and everyone loved it. It’s always a gamble serving something like beets to a crowd– though I don’t know why anyone would hate them since they are DELICIOUS. Last time this group was together, we started the meal a homemade pate so I figured I was safe with 8 adventurous palettes. It was a hit!