Roasted Beet Salad/Red Wine Shallot Vinaigrette

This is a salad we made at the restaurant in Minnesota.  It was  particularly favored by the women.  This would be a great entree salad to serve at a ladies' luncheon, maybe with a cup of Potato Tarragon soup or a special homemade soup.  The beets in the market right now are just beautiful and after roasting, simply delicious.  The dressing recipe makes about 2 cups, so cut it in half if you'd like or just save the rest as a versatile vinaigrette on a basic garden salad.

ROASTED BEET SALAD with RED WINE SHALLOT VINAIGRETTE

Vinaigrette:
1 cup olive oil
1/3 cup minced shallots
1/3 cup fresh lemon juice
1/2 cup red wine vinegar
1 1/4 tsp sugr
2 1/2 tsp salt

Salad:
Fresh roasted beets, sliced thinly
Mixed salad green
Ricotta cheese
Italian seasoning
Kalamata olives, pitted (I prefer oil-cured olives)
Capers
Roasted red peppers

Cut off tops of beets and wrap in foil.  Roast beets in a 400 degree oven until tender, about an hour.  Cool and slide off the skins.

Blend together all vinaigrette ingredients.

Mix Italian seasoning to taste into some ricotta cheese (I used about 1/4 cup Ricotta per salad, add enough seasoning to the Ricotta to get a good taste, maybe about 1/2 tsp).

Toss salad greens with some vinaigrette, add about a quarter cup of Ricotta mixture and mix in.

Put a thin layer of greens mixture down in the center of the plate.  Top with 3-4 (depending on how large the beets are) beets, more green mixture, another layer of beets, etc. building as high as you would like, ending with sliced beets.  Surround with 5 kalamata olives, put 5 red pepper strips up the sides and sprinkle with a Tbsp of capers over the top.