Raw Beet and Arugula Salad with Parmesan Cheese + Butternut Squash and Spinach Salad with Walnuts

This is probably the longest post title ever. I wanted to post this not because I have such awesome recipes for these salad. I mean - they are salad. You toss things that seem to go well together with some salt, pepper, good oil and good vinegar. And you get an excellent dish. This post is because sometimes simple things are just effortlessly so pretty and delicious.

For the raw beet salad, I just julienned a bulb of peeled raw beet and piled in on top of a handful of ripped arugula. Then I shaved a lot of parmesan cheese over. The dressing was just olive oil, balsamic vinegar, salt and freshly ground pepper.

The cheese and vinegar balanced out the spiciness of arugula, while raw beet added crunch, sweetness and a little earthiness. Plus it's just so pretty.



The second salad was roasted butternut squash over baby spinach. Whenever I get a squash, if I don't have any particular plan what to do with it. I would peel, cube and roast it in the oven. So whenever I want to, I can just grab how much ever I need from the refrigerator.

For this salad, I piled about a scant cup of the cooked squash over a mountain of baby spinach. I sprinkled about a handful of chopped walnuts over the salad to add some texture. And again, the salad is dressed with simple olive oil, balsamic vinegar, salt and pepper.