Beet and Avocado Salad with Beet Greens and Goji Berries

This dish is fresh, summery, light, and delicious, and jam-packed with healthy ingredients. AND, I used basil growing in my NEW and very own herb garden! I can't tell you how awesome it is to just open my door and pick a few leaves of fresh basil to use in my dishes. Well, ok, I can tell you. I just did. I love it. I'm going basil-crazy. I'm also ready to go golden beet crazy after making this meal.

I got inspired to make this after having the roasted beet & avocado salad at my new favorite local restaurant- the Boot & Shoe Service (yes, a restaurant called Boot & Shoe. Apparently the place actually used to be a shoe repair shop, and when it became a restaurant, they decided to just leave the sign up and keep the name. Funny, right?) Anyway, back to food. 

Ingredients:

• 3 large golden beets, cleaned and cut into bite-sized cubes
• Beet greens (from above beets!- buy a bunch!) and/or kale, washed & chopped (I actually used a combo of both, for a giant bowl of greens)
• 1-2 large avocados in bite-sized chunks
• Olive oil for drizzling
• 2 Tbsp Goji berries
• 1-2 Tbsp fresh chopped basil
• Sea salt and pepper to taste

Steps:

1. Preheat oven to 400F. Meanwhile, do your chopping & prep. 
2. Roast your beets. I like to drizzle them in just a little olive oil and wrap them in little tinfoil packets. Depending on how thick or thin you slice them, it should take about 40-50 minutes to get nice and tender. Check with a fork after about 40 min.
3. Steam the greens in a little olive oil until just wilted.
4. Combine all ingredients and serve! 

Easy, right? Creamy avocado goes so well with the sweet roasted beets and leafy greens. I love having the Goji berries in there as well for a little color pop, additional sweetness, and texture element, plus some vitamin C too!

Something so simple can be so yummy when you use fresh local ingredients. Let your veggies shine!