WARM LENTIL SALAD ROASTED BEETS, GOAT CHEESE

WARM LENTIL SALAD ROASTED BEETS, GOAT CHEESE
Tangy goat cheese and sweet beets are a famously good pairing; it is with good reason that so many French brasseries and bistros have a salad featuring the two on their menus. Lentils
are another ingredient favored in France, and the combination of the three makes for one very satisfying salad. (Crispy bits of smoky bacon don’t hurt either.) I don’t recommend cheating
with canned lentils. The texture and flavor of dried lentils cooked in a well-seasoned stock is far superior, and they cook up in no time.

Serves 4
medium red or gold beets, trimmed and scrubbed
tablespoons canola oil
small carrots, 1 quartered and 1 finely diced
medium Spanish onion, quartered
small stalk celery, quartered
bay leaf
sprigs fresh thyme, plus 2 teaspoons finely chopped
quart chicken stock, homemade or store-bought
¼ cups dried French green lentils
Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper
¼ pound slab bacon, diced
cloves garlic, finely chopped
tablespoons sherry vinegar
ounces chopped frisée or mixed greens
Sherry vinaigrette
(½-inch-thick) slices fresh goat cheese

1. Preheat the oven to 375°F.
2. Put each beet on its own piece of aluminum foil. Drizzle with 2 tablespoons of the oil. Wrap the beets tightly, place on a baking sheet, and roast in the
oven until cooked through, about 1 hour. Remove the beets from the oven, let cool slightly, and then remove the skins. Cut into ¼-inch-thick slices.
3. Place the quartered carrot, onion, and celery and the bay leaf, thyme sprigs, and chicken stock in a medium saucepan. Bring to a boil, stir in the lentils,
and season with salt and pepper. Reduce the heat to medium-low and cook until the lentils are tender, about 25 minutes. Drain well and discard the
carrot, onion, celery, bay leaf, and thyme.
4. Heat the remaining 1 tablespoon oil in a large sauté pan over medium heat, add the bacon, and cook until crisp and golden brown, about 8 minutes.
Transfer the bacon with a slotted spoon to a dish lined with paper towels. Add the garlic and diced carrot to the pan and cook until soft, about 5 minutes.
Add the cooked lentils and bacon and stir to combine. Stir in the chopped thyme and sherry vinegar and season with salt and pepper to taste. Keep
warm.
5. Place the frisée in a large bowl, toss with half of the vinaigrette, and season with salt and pepper. Arrange the roasted beets around the outside of 4
dinner plates and the frisée in the centers. Top the frisée with the warm lentils and place a slice of goat cheese on top of each. Drizzle the salads with the
remaining Sherry vinaigrette.