I took a mini vacation to Northern California in June with my brother, Ray, and my cousin, Delia. The weather can be a little iffy during the summer, but we lucked out and had spectacular sunny and warm days. When I travel, I live for the food. When I’m eating breakfast, I’m thinking about lunch, and during lunch, I’m obsessing about what we’ll have for dinner. The Bay area has some of the best food, bar none!
We ended up in Napa for a day of wine tasting and grazing. We Googled best lunch spots and settled on Bistro Don Giovanni based on reviews. We sat on their terrace overlooking the vineyards. Gorgeous sunny day, good wine, great food, beautiful setting… it just doesn’t get much better than that. As I looked over the menu, their Roasted Beet Salad with Fennel, Avocado, Haricots Verts, and Roquefort jumped out at me and said “pick me”. I relented and my lunch was this salad and Pizza Margherita. Fantastico!
I know I mention favorites a lot on this blog, but seriously, these ingredients are some of my favorite foods. I had never seen this combination of vegetables, and the salad did not disappoint. The first bite was one of the those “mmmmmm” moments where that’s really all you can say. I wanted that salad to last forever!!
Roasted beets are a regular vegetable at my house. I’ve tried several methods for roasting them, but I’ve gotten the best results with this method. I always buy beets that are similar size. The ones I used for this recipe were about 2 to 3 inches in diameter. Place each beet on a double layer of aluminum foil with about a tablespoon of water. Wrap the beets tightly. Place wrapped beets on a baking sheet and roast at 375 degrees for about an hour. Cooking time varies according to beet size. When they’re done, the peel comes off very easily.
When putting the salad together, I add the red beets last, so they don’t color the other ingredients.
Ingredients
2 oz crumbled Roquefort
1/4 cup Champagne vinegar
3/4 cup extra virgin olive oil
Salt and pepper to taste
1 lb roasted beets (golden and red) cut into 1/2 inch cubes
1 Fennel bulb, sliced 1/8 inch thick
1 lb haricots verts
2 avocado, cut into 1/2 inch cubes
1/4 head Radicchio, cut into fine julienne
1 bunch chives
2 oz Roquefort, crumbled
1 cup Roquefort Vinaigrette (see below)
Salt and pepper to taste
Instructions
1. Whisk Roquefort, vinegar, salt and pepper, in bowl.
2. Slowly whisk in olive oil
1. Place golden beets, fennel, haricots verts, and radicchio in a bowl.
2. Sprinkle with salt and pepper.
3. Add half of the vinaigrette and toss gently.
4. Divide salad onto four plates.
5.Top with red beets, avocado, and crumbled Roquefort.
6. Add more dressing to taste.
7. Sprinkle with chives.
https://southernboydishes.com/2012/09/26/roasted-beet-and-fennel-salad-with-haricots-verts-and-avocado-roquefort-vinaigrette/
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I have been going to BDG for many years, probably 15 or 20, and have had this salad every time I’ve been there, most recently in July on our 3 week, northern CA, 25th anniversary road trip. I’ve also been trying to recreate this salad for that many years and have never been able to get it quite right, close, but, not perfect. So, glad to see this on-line. I’m going to try it today with ingredients from my garden and my local CSA.
OMG!! Was randomly at this restaurant yesterday and had this fabulous salad! I shopped for all of the ingredients that night on the way home. I was literally JUST looking up a blue cheese recipe to try to put it all together as close as i could…Finding the actual recipe in just a few clicks, with this story is truly serendipitous! TANK YOU!!! and YES, try it! You’ll like it!
🙂 – jennifer V MS, RD food lover, Napa lover and now a fan of your blog 😉
It was one of the best salads I’ve ever had. I’m so glad I was able to find the recipe! Thanks so much for dropping by SBD!
Thanks for posting this recipe – I had it as Bistro Don’s too and was excited to find it! I’m not a huge fan of the radicchio so I substituted arugula and it was fantastic.
Cheers!
Hi Colleen; I still fantasize about that lunch at Bistro Don Giovanni! Such a great day! Thanks for dropping by!
I made it twice this week… In love…. Love Napa. Love BDG!
What a gorgeous salad! With all of that color you know it’s got to be high in vitamins and minerals. Looks delicious! Love the addition of the Roquefort!