This post may contain commission-earning affiliate links.
The Perfect Winter Salad: Beets, Balsamic, Grilled Chicken, etc.
I am all about comfort food in the winter, but I find the need to break up warmer meals with a light and nutritious salad every now and again. This delicious winter salad with cooked beets, grilled chicken, goat cheese, dates, pumpkin seeds, and my creamy homemade balsamic vinaigrette is the perfect healthy lunch or dinner to enjoy during the colder months.
Winter Salads: You Use What You Can Get, But That Doesn’t Mean It Can’t Be Wonderful
The winter season is all about comfort food, so a salad seems like an afterthought meal that might be thrown together just to add some greens to the table. While summer salads are bursting with sweet fruit, when one does have the hankering for a winter salad you have to get creative with what’s in season. This salad was actually inspired by a cafe down the street from my Vancouver apartment that makes a similar beet salad with a bright pink vinaigrette. As an ode to that delicious salad, I wanted to incorporate beets in my own way by pairing them with other seasonal items that really work together, and adding my own personal touch with my favorite homemade dressing.
Medjool dates and beets seem like an odd combination, but in this particular salad when you add them together with goat cheese, salty pumpkin seeds, and a tangy balsamic vinaigrette, they add a depth of sweetness that compliments the acidity and saltiness of the other ingredients quite nicely. It’s also relatively easy to find Medjool dates and cooked beets at the store year around!
Pairing This Salad With The Easiest, Most Delicious Balsamic Vinaigrette
One of the best things that I’ve learned how to make is a good vinaigrette, a skill that I picked up from one of my favorite cooking books written by Samin Nosrat, Salt, Fat, Acid Heat. You really just need olive oil, your vinegar of choice, an emulsifying agent like dijon mustard, something sweet like honey, salt, and pepper. I usually have all five of these things on hand (and you probably do, too!) so you can make this dressing anytime.
I use balsamic vinegar in this recipe because it pairs so well with the beets and dates. I also love using this dressing on summer salad with fruit and goat cheese because the tanginess marries perfectly with the sweetness of the fruit.
Why I Created This Anti-Inflammatory Recipe
I am very intentional with my ingredients, especially when it comes to things like dairy. Out of all the cheese in the world, I went with goat cheese here because I love the taste, but also because we tend to digest cheese from goat’s milk much easier than cheese from cow’s milk.
Earlier this year, I discovered that my body produces antibodies that attack my thyroid. My doctor highly recommended that I stick to an anti-inflammatory diet because of the correlation between thyroid function and inflammation. I create most recipes, including this salad, with anti-inflammatory properties in mind. I’ve noticed that eating as clean as possible has made me feel better, heal faster, and help with my overall cognitive function. I am by no means a doctor or registered dietician, but I did want to share my personal “why” for creating recipes like this one because eating this way really has positively impacted my health, and I figured maybe it could help others, too.
How to Make This Amazing Salad
Cook Your Chicken: Cook your chicken or protein of choice (if any) however you like and let it cool before adding it to the salad.
Arrange Your Salad: Add your spring mix to a bowl as your base and then add your cooked beets, chopped dates, pumpkin seeds, goat cheese, and chicken/protein of choice to the top.
Make Your Dressing: Combine your olive oil, balsamic vinegar, dijon mustard, honey, salt, and pepper in a bowl and mix it until combined – the end result should be a delicious, tangy vinaigrette that has some body but still drizzles nicely.
*TIP: Place your dressing ingredients into a container with a lid and shake until completely combined – this should save you some time (and splashes!).
Dress Your Salad and Serve: Dress you salad with your homemade vinaigrette and serve. Enjoy!
Ingredients:
- Spring mix
- Cooked beets
- Medjool dates
- Goat cheese
- Pumpkin seeds
- Grilled chicken breasts
- Olive oil
- Balsamic vinegar
- Honey
- Dijon Mustard
- Salt
- Pepper
Full Recipe:
Print
Beets and Balsamic Salad with Grilled Chicken
Ingredients
For the salad:
- 4 cups of spring mix
- 3 cooked beets (diced)
- 6–8 Medjool dates (pitted and diced)
- 1/4 c pumpkin seeds
- 3–4 tbsp goat cheese
- 2 cooked chicken breasts
For the balsamic vinaigrette:
- 1/4 c olive oil
- 2 tbsp balsamic vinegar
- 1 tbsp + 1 tsp honey
- 1 tsp dijon mustard
- salt (to taste)
- pepper (to taste)
Instructions
- Cook Your Chicken: Cook your chicken or protein of choice (if any) however you like and let it cool before adding it to the salad. I recommend grilled chicken!
- Arrange Your Salad: Add your spring mix to a bowl as your base and then add your cooked beets, chopped dates, pumpkin seeds, goat cheese, and chicken/protein of choice to the top.
- Make Your Dressing: Combine your olive oil, balsamic vinegar, dijon mustard, honey, salt, and pepper in a dish and mix it until combined – the end result should be a delicious, tangy vinaigrette that has some body but still drizzles nicely. *TIP: Place your dressing ingredients into a container with a lid and shake until completely combined – this should save you some time (and splashes!)
- Dress Your Salad and Serve: Dress you salad with your homemade vinaigrette and serve. Enjoy!
For more recipes like this one, follow me on social media at @dinneratallis!
Resources:
- “10 Evidence-Based Health Benefits of Cinnamon.” Healthline, 5 July 2018, www.healthline.com/nutrition/10-proven-benefits-of-cinnamon#TOC_TITLE_HDR_6.
- Brown, Mary-Eve. “Turmeric Benefits.” Johns Hopkins Medicine, 15 Dec. 2022, www.hopkinsmedicine.org/health/wellness-and-prevention/turmeric-benefits.