Beet Carpaccio with Gratinated Goat Cheese and Toasted Walnuts

I especially like salads that are a little more exciting, including non traditional ingredients such as watermelon, apple, beet roots... My brother grew for the first time beet roots in his garden, so I wanted to try them out. I do like marinated and cooked beet roots, especially with goat or feta cheese. So, I got inspired for this salad by two things, the fruits of my brother's garden and my visit to Prague a few months ago where I had a very similar beet root salad.

Ingredients:

• 2-3 beet roots (uncooked)
• 1 l water
• 2 garlic cloves 
• 2 Tbsp vinegar
• 1 tsp sugar
• 1 Tbsp salt

• goat cheese
• 1 tsp olive oil
• 1/2 tsp of each salt, pepper, herb de provence

• 1 cup walnuts
• 1 tsp oil

• lettuce (e.g. baby spinach or arugula)

Dressing:

• 2 Tbsp balsamic vinegar
• 1 Tbsp apple vinegar
• 1 Tbsp mustard
• 1 tsp honey
• juice of 1/2 lemon
• 3 Tbsp olive oil
• salt, pepper, herb de provence to taste

Preparation:

1. Prepare the Beets: Bring water to a boil, add the garlic cloves, salt, vinegar and sugar and stir. Add the beet roots and cook for 40 min till soft. Use a fork to test. Take the beet roots out of the water and let cool for a few minutes. Now, put on some kitchen gloves, as the red juice of the beet root is very intense and can leave stains. Peel the beet roots and slice in very thin slices that are almost translucent. If you want to have perfect slices, use a mandoline slicer.
2. Gratinate the Goat Cheese: Preheat oven to 190 degree Celcius. Slice the goat cheese in 4-6 slices of about 1 inch thickness. Lay out on a baking tray and sprinkle with the olive oil and spices. Bake for about 10 minutes, till it starts to bubble a little bit and get a slight golden colar.
3. Toast the Walnuts: Preheat oven to 150 degree Celcius. Spread the walnuts out on a baking tray, sprinkle with the oil. Bake in the oven for 3-5 minutes, but check regularly as the can burn from one minute to the next.
4. Dressing and Salad: Use a small mixing bowl for the dressing. First, add the vinegars, mustard, honey and lemon juice and mix everything. Then, add the oil and spices and mix again till everything is combined. In a seperat bowl, place the lettuce (e.g. baby spinach or arugula as these lettuce are a little nuttier in taste) and sprinkle with the dressing. Toss the salad till everything is mixed.
5. Assemble the Carpaccio: Place the slices of beet root in a circular shape on a plate. The slices are so thin, that it should resemble a carpaccio. Top with the dressed lettuce. Add 2-3 sliced of gratinated goat cheese on top and sprinkle with walnuts.

Note:

• Toasting vs. Roasting:  To toast something means to only brown the outside slighlty under dry heat either in a toaster or the oven. When roasting something, you expose it to dry heat and cook the inside through.
• Carpaccio: Usually used when slicing raw beef very thinnly, almost translucent. As we use the same slicing technique for the beet roots, we call it a beet carpaccio. 

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