Beet and Pepita Seed Salad with a Grapefruit Dressing

Mill City Tavern Beet Salad

Last summer M and I had a layover in Minnesota; we ate at the Mill City Tavern at the airport.  I had their roasted beet salad which was my inspiration for this afternoon's salad.  Theirs included pepita or pumpkin seeds, cherries, winter squash, yogurt dressing, and microgreens.  I omitted the squash (see below) and substituted dried cranberries for the cherries, and made my own citrus dressing. 

My Beet and Pepita Seed Salad with a Grapefruit Dressing

Earlier this week I made pumpkin muffins and while the oven was on, I roasted four beets (chopped into bite-size pieces) for about an hour at 350 degrees.  Then I placed them in the fridge to cool.  Today I tossed one 10 ounce package of watercress (also known as microgreens), 1 ounce of pepita seeds, a few handfuls of dried cranberries, and of course the roasted beets in a large Polish pottery bowl with a homemade grapefruit dressing.  I crumbled some goat cheese on the side and let folks add their own cheese to the tossed beet salad.  I didn't want the soft cheese to stick to the bowl or turn pink from the beets.  I had hoped to include roasted butternut squash, like the Mill City recipe, but the squash was soggy when I removed it from the package. 

For the grapefruit dressing, I whisked the following ingredients together:

about 1/4 cup fresh grapefruit juice
1 Tbs. white balsamic vinegar
1 tsp. lemon juice
salt and pepper to taste

Notes:

My family all seemed to enjoy this salad - even some of the finicky eaters. The dressing was super yummy - I will definitely make it again for this beet salad and use it for other tossed salads.  It was similar to this dressing.  Also I would like to make a yogurt dressing for this beet and pepita seed salad similar to the Mill City one.  My family thought baby spinach or arugula would work instead of the watercress and I concur.