Roasted Beet Salad with Goat Cheese — The Meal That Was Mine

I turned thirty-two on Tuesday. August eighth. Miya is sixteen months old and she "sang" happy birthday to me, which means she opened and closed her mouth while Brian sang and occasionally yelled "mama" at an inappropriate volume, which I will count as a musical contribution. Brian brought home a cake — lemon, from the same bakery as last year — and a card that said, "To my favorite cook," which was sweet and also made me realize that Brian sees my cooking before he sees my writing, and the order of that seeing tells me something I already knew.

I made my own birthday meal again — because I want to, because cooking for myself is an act of self-care that no one else can replicate, because the food I want on my birthday is the food only I know how to make. Chirashi sushi with the best fish from Uwajimaya. Miso soup with tofu and wakame. Rice in Fumiko's ceramic bowl, the one with the chip. A small plate of tsukemono. The meal was quiet and perfect and mine.

I am teaching yoga four days a week, writing for the blog biweekly, raising a toddler, and married to a man who drinks four beers every night. I started the sentence that way — "drinks four beers every night" — because I have been counting and four is the number, not three, not five, four, consistently, nightly, the way some people have a cup of tea. I do not know if four beers a night is a problem. I know it is a fact. I know I am noting the fact with the clinical precision of a woman who has been in therapy for eighteen years and knows that noting is the step before naming and naming is the step before acting. I am not ready to act. I am noting.

My therapist started suggesting I journal. Not instead of the blog — in addition to it. The blog is for the public version of my thoughts, the shaped and edited version. The journal is for the raw material, the things I think at three AM, the observations I cannot share: about Brian, about the marriage, about the distance that is growing like moss on the north side of a tree — slow, green, persistent, covering the structure beneath until you cannot see the original wood. I started journaling. It is messy and honest and I will never show anyone. It is also, I suspect, where the real writing lives. The blog is the house. The journal is the foundation.

Chirashi is the meal I made for myself on my birthday — but this roasted beet salad is what I make when I need that same quiet intentionality on an ordinary week, when I want something composed and beautiful that asks me to slow down and place things carefully. It has the same logic: separate elements arranged into a whole that is more than its parts, eaten alone at the counter or at a table I set just for me. If you are in a season of noting things, of holding observations gently before you are ready to act on them, I think you will understand why a dish this deliberate feels like the right one to share.

Roasted Beet Salad with Goat Cheese & Pistachios

Prep Time: 15 min | Cook Time: 45 min | Total Time: 1 hr | Servings: 4

Ingredients

• 4 medium beets (about 1 1/2 lbs), scrubbed and trimmed
• 2 tablespoons olive oil, divided
• 1/4 teaspoon kosher salt, plus more to taste
• 1/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
• 5 oz mixed greens or arugula
• 3 oz fresh goat cheese, crumbled
• 1/3 cup shelled roasted pistachios, roughly chopped
• 1/4 small red onion, very thinly sliced
• 2 tablespoons fresh flat-leaf parsley leaves
• For the dressing:
• 2 tablespoons red wine vinegar
• 1 teaspoon Dijon mustard
• 1 teaspoon honey
• 3 tablespoons olive oil
• Salt and pepper to taste

Instructions

1. Roast the beets. Preheat oven to 400°F. Place each beet on a square of foil, drizzle with 1 tablespoon of the olive oil, and season with salt and pepper. Wrap loosely and place on a baking sheet. Roast for 40—50 minutes, until a knife slides in easily. Let cool completely.
2. Peel and slice. Once the beets are cool enough to handle, rub the skins off with a paper towel (they should slip off easily). Cut into 1/2-inch wedges or rounds. Set aside.
3. Make the dressing. In a small bowl or jar, whisk together the red wine vinegar, Dijon, and honey. Slowly drizzle in the olive oil while whisking until emulsified. Season with salt and pepper to taste.
4. Assemble the salad. Arrange the greens on a large platter or in a wide bowl. Scatter the beet slices over the greens, then distribute the red onion evenly. Crumble the goat cheese across the top, followed by the pistachios and parsley leaves.
5. Dress and serve. Drizzle the dressing over the salad just before serving. Toss gently at the table, or serve composed and let each person dress their own portion.

Nutrition (per serving)

Calories: 285 | Protein: 8g | Fat: 21g | Carbs: 18g | Fiber: 4g | Sodium: 310mg