Beet and Mozzarella Salad with Arugula and Balsamic Dressing

Beet and Mozzarella Salad with Arugula and Balsamic Dressing is just like Caprese salad but with the addition of beets! It's colorful, delicious, meatless, vegetarian, healthy, and gluten-free! You can use oven-roasted, boiled, marinated, or pickled beets. This salad blends together earthy, savory, and sweet flavors in a perfect combination!

Ingredients

Balsamic Dressing

1 cup balsamic vinegar

¼ cup honey or brown sugar

Salad ingredients

1.5 lb red and golden beets cooked, peeled, diced into small cubes

5 oz arugula or spinach

6 oz fresh Mozzarella cheese pearls

Instructions

Salad Dressing - Balsamic Glaze

In a small saucepan, heat balsamic vinegar and honey over medium heat.

Bring to a gentle boil, reduce heat to simmer, and cook, stirring, until the mixture thickens and reduces by about half (about 10 or so minutes).

Remove from heat and pour the balsamic glaze into a heat-proof bowl to cool off. The glaze will get thicker as it cools off.

Consistency should be thick enough to coat the back of the spoon but should not be overly thick.

Alternatively, you can simply mix ¼ cup of balsamic vinegar + ¼ cup of honey and use that as a glaze.

Salad assembly

This recipe uses cooked beets. I highly recommend that you pre-cook the beets 1 to 3 days in advance. See notes below on how to roast the beets in the oven or how to boil them.

I prefer to arrange the salad in individual bowls for presentation purposes. It's especially essential for a beet salad as beets tend to color everything they touch purple.

Add arugula to each individual salad bowl or a plate. Top with diced cooked red and golden beets. Add fresh Mozzarella cheese ("pearls") on top. Drizzle with the balsamic glaze or dressing. Season with freshly ground black pepper.