Roasted Beet, Goat Cheese, Mint, & Edamame Salad

This recipe is from page 208 of the April 2012 issue of Cosmopolitan magazine.
I love goat cheese, so when I skimmed through my recipe stack I knew I had to give it a go. It was delicious and super super filling.

yield: 4 meal-sized servings, 6+ side dish-sized servings

ingredients
for salad
1tbs olive oil
8 small (or 4 larger) beets, diced
2tbs balsamic vinegar
3 sprigs fresh thyme, leaves only
⅛tsp sugar
2/3C edamame beans (fresh or frozen)
1 bunch of fresh mint, finely shredded
1/2C toasted hazelnuts, lightly crushed
7oz goat cheese, crumbled
1 small handful of basil leaves

for dressing
2tbs honey mustard
zest and juice of 1 lemon
2tbs olive oil
⅛tsp black pepper
⅛tsp salt

directions

1. for salad: Preheat a skillet with olive oil.
2. Put the beets into the pan, and cook on high heat for 6 minutes until the beets are charred on the edges.
3. Add balsamic vinegar, thyme leaves, and sugar.
4. Reduce the heat, and let beets cook for 3-5 more minutes.
5. for dressing: Remove the beets from the pan, reduce the heat to the lowest setting, and add the ingredients for the dressing to the pan drippings.
6. Mix well.
7. Remove from heat.
8. If the edamame beans are frozen, but them in a heatproof bowl, pour boiling water over them to thaw, then drain.
9. Put beans into a large bowl.
10. Add mint and hazelnuts.
11. Drizzle with half of the dressing from the pan.
12. Add beets to a large platter or bowl.
13. Scatter goat cheese and mint bean mixture over the beets.
14. Drizzle with the remaining dressing.
15. Sprinkle basil leaves over the salad.
16. Enjoy!