Warm Lentil Salad Roasted Beets, Goat Cheese

Name: Warm Lentil Salad Roasted Beets, Goat Cheese
Yield: Serves 4
Ingredients: 3 medium red or gold beets, trimmed and scrubbed; 3 tablespoons canola oil; 2 small carrots, 1 quartered and 1 finely diced; 1 medium Spanish onion, quartered; 1 small stalk celery, quartered; 1 bay leaf; 5 sprigs fresh thyme, plus 2 teaspoons finely chopped; 1 quart chicken stock, homemade (page 240) or store-bought; 1 1/4 cups dried French green lentils; Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper; 1/4 pound slab bacon, diced; 2 cloves garlic, finely chopped; 2 tablespoons sherry vinegar; 3 ounces chopped frisée or mixed greens; Sherry Vinaigrette (recipe follows); 4 (1/2-inch-thick) slices fresh goat cheese; 1/4 cup sherry vinegar; 1 tablespoon Dijon mustard; 2 teaspoons honey; 1/4 teaspoon kosher salt; 1/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper; 1/2 cup extra virgin olive oil; (makes 3/4 cup)

December 14, 2011

Tangy goat cheese and sweet beets are a famously good pairing; it is with good reason that so many French brasseries and bistros have a salad featuring the two on their menus. Lentils are another ingredient favored in France, and the combination of the three makes for one very satisfying salad. (Crispy bits of smoky bacon don’t hurt either.) I don’t recommend cheating with canned lentils. The texture and flavor of dried lentils cooked in a well-seasoned stock is far superior, and they cook up in no time.

Recipe notes

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