Gardenuity Offers a Collection of Salad Recipes for Game Day
The Balsamic Roasted Beet & Arugula Salad, a delightful recipe by Barefoot Contessa, offers a taste of autumn's bounty. This salad is not only delicious but also encourages the use of garden-fresh ingredients.
The Recipe
The salad calls for 8 medium-sized beets, 1/2 cup balsamic vinegar, 1/2 cup olive oil, 2 teaspoons Dijon mustard, kosher salt, freshly ground black pepper, 4 ounces baby arugula, 1/3 cup roasted, salted Marcona almonds, 4 ounces soft goat cheese, and a basil and parsley vinaigrette. To make the salad, chop up all desired ingredients and toss them together or drizzle the dressing on top as preferred.
Garden-Inspired Ingredients
Beets and arugula are ideal for an autumn vegetable garden. Beets germinate best when soil temperatures are between 50°F and 75°F, while arugula thrives in warmer soils and tolerates light frosts.
Planting, Care, and Harvesting
To plant and harvest beets and arugula for fall garden salads, follow these steps based on timing, planting, and care optimized for fall conditions.
Planting
- Beets: Plant beet seeds in late summer to early fall, approximately 50 to 70 days before your first expected frost date.
- Arugula: Arugula can be sown midsummer for a fall harvest.
Care
- Beets: Keep soil evenly moist with about 1 inch of water per week, using mulch to conserve moisture and suppress weeds. As temperatures cool in fall, reduce watering slightly.
- Arugula: Keep soil moist for continuous leaf production.
Harvesting
- Beets: Harvest once roots reach desired size—usually 50–70 days after planting.
- Arugula: Pick baby leaves about 3–4 weeks after sowing for tender salad greens.
Additional Tips
- Cool soil before planting by shading and moistening to improve germination.
- Choose fast-maturing beet varieties for fall such as Detroit Dark Red, Early Wonder, or Bull’s Blood to ensure a good harvest before frost.
- Use floating row covers or frost cloths if an early frost threatens but you want to extend the harvest window.
By planting beets and arugula in mid to late summer and managing water and spacing carefully, you can enjoy fresh, flavorful greens and roots for delicious fall salads.
Related Recipes
This article also mentions four garden-inspired Fourth of July recipes and a citrus avocado salad with radish microgreens as related recipes. The salad can be served with microgreens as a garnish, and the pizza chopped salad can be served with a side of honey mustard, ranch, or a homemade healthy dressing. Additionally, the Italian Salad with Basil Dressing recipe by Cuisine at Home and a Pizza chopped salad can be prepared using various ingredients such as arugula, romaine, spinach, mushrooms, tomatoes, olives, chives, thyme, peppers, pineapple, parsley, basil, mozzarella cheese, goat cheese, grilled chicken, and sliced ham.
- Embracing a food-and-drink lifestyle, consider growing your own beets and arugula, ideal for an autumn home-and-garden, to utilize in the Balsamic Roasted Beet & Arugula Salad recipe.
- If you enjoy cooking and want to experiment with new recipes, try incorporating garden-fresh beets and arugula into your culinary creations, similar to the salad mentioned earlier.
- To fully appreciate the taste of autumn's bounty, consider growing beets, arugula, and other garden vegetables for use in various food-and-drink creations and salads, such as the Balsamic Roasted Beet & Arugula Salad.
