Beets Salad Recipe and Motivation Monday

Hey, my fitfam!

It’s been a while, hasn’t it? I know… Last week was crazy busy – between work, physical therapy and exercise I hardly had any time at all to sit down and breathe.

All better now, seems like, so let’s go into the new week starting with Motivation Monday!

What motivates you to keep going? (as in exercising, eating better, moving more, drinking more water, etc..)

This Monday I am motivated by a great online community of over 300 people who are part of Brooke’s Back to Basics Challenge.

The challenge is built on the foundations of the Weight Watchers program, but you don’t have to be a member of the WW to be part of this challenge!

Every week Brooke posts a challenge on her blog that the group members try to implement and incorporate in their daily lives, supporting and cheering each other on along the way.

So here we go, this week’s challenge is about Good Health Guidelines and I chose to create a meal that incorporates 3-4 of the GHG’s.

The roasted beets salad recipe below incorporates:

Veggies (beets, arugula)

Low fat dairy (Feta), and

Healthy oils (olive oil)

You can find the original recipe I adopted here.

Here’s the way I did it.

Roasted Beets Salad Recipe

Ingredients:

1/4 cup balsamic vinegar

3 tablespoons onions, thinly sliced

1 tablespoon honey

1/3 cup extra-virgin olive oil

Salt and freshly ground black pepper

6 medium beets, quartered

6 cups fresh arugula

1/2 cup walnuts, toasted, coarsely chopped

3 ounces soft fresh feta cheese, coarsely crumbled

Directions:

1. Line a baking sheet with foil.

2. Preheat the oven to 450 degrees F.

3. Whisk the vinegar, onions, and honey in a medium bowl to blend.

4. Gradually whisk in the oil.

5. Season the vinaigrette, to taste, with salt and pepper.

6. Toss the beets in a small bowl with enough dressing to coat.

8. Place the beets on the prepared baking sheet.

9. Roast until the beets are slightly caramelized, stirring occasionally, about 12 minutes.

10. Set aside and cool.

11. Add the arugula and walnuts to a large bowl.

12. Arrange the beets around the salad.

13. Sprinkle with goat cheese, and serve with the leftover vinaigrette on the side.

Enjoy!

That is my motivation Monday, folks!

What motivates you today?