Hawaiian Salad Recipe with Goat Cheese

Color Hawaiian salad with tomatoes, avocado, pineapple, beets. macadamia nuts and more in a bowl with utensils.

4.41 from 5 votes

Hawaiian Salad Recipe with Goat Cheese

This brightly colored Hawaiian style salad is fresh tasting and healthy, inspired by Merriman’s Restaurant on the Big Island of Hawaii. To make it a main course, add more salad greens and add grilled chicken or shrimp. For dairy-free, skip the cheese. Buy pre-cooked beets or roast your own (takes about 40 minutes, do ahead). Macadamia nuts are a nice add too.

Prep Time15

Total Time15

Course: Salad

Cuisine: Hawaiian

Servings:

Calories: 485kcal

Author: Sally Cameron

Ingredients

To Roast the Beets (or buy pre-cooked to save time)

2 medium red beets or other color
2 teaspoons olive oil
⅛ teaspoon salt
⅛ teaspoon ground black pepper

Hawaiian Salad

1 large head crisp red lettuce or 5-6 ounce container pre-washed lettuce
12-16 sweet grape tomatoes halved lengthwise
4 small spears fresh pineapple diced
1 small English cucumber or 3-4 mini cucumbers chopped
1 ripe avocado split, seeded, quartered then diced
4-6 ounces goat cheese crumbled

Champagne Vinaigrette

6 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
2 tablespoons champagne vinegar or white wine vinegar
1 large egg yolk optional
1 small garlic clove finely chopped or zested
2 teaspoons finely chopped shallot optional
2 pinches sea salt
2 pinches ground black pepper

Instructions

To roast your own beets (do ahead of time and chill)

Pre-heat the oven to 425 degrees. Trim the tops off the beets to about 1 inch. Wash and dry the beets and place on a double piece of heavy foil. Toss the beets with olive oil and sprinkle with salt and pepper.
Wrap the beets up in the foil and place the packet on the center rack in the oven. Roast until beets are easily pierced with the tip of a thin skewer like a cake tester or a paring knife, about 40 minutes depending on the size.
Remove beet packet from the oven and cool until you can handle them. With paper towels, rub the skins off of the beets; quarter them and set aside. Chill the beets then cut into pieces.
Note - Wear disposable food handler gloves while working with the beets to prevent staining your hands.

Make the vinaigrette (makes extra)

While the beets are roasting, make the vinaigrette. Whisk oil, vinegar, yolk, garlic and shallot together in a small bowl until creamy, or shake well in a jar with a tight lid. Season with salt and pepper.
If vinaigrette is made ahead of time, refrigerate until serving due to the raw egg yolk. Re-whisk if needed.

Assemble the Salad

Serve the salad family style in one large bowl or on individual plates.
For family style, toss the greens with a little of the vinaigrette, add to a large bowl and add the cucumber, tomatoes, beets, avocado, pineapple, and goat cheese. Serve extra vinaigrette on the side.

Notes

Vinaigrette note:

If using a raw egg yolk concerns you, omit it from the vinaigrette, but it does make it nice and creamy. If the egg is fresh and un-cracked, you should have no worries. Dressing with raw yolk is good for 2 days (only) refrigerated.

Another option is use Dijon mustard to emulsify the dressing. Add about 1 teaspoon and whisk well until creamy.

The nutrition calculation includes all of the vinaigrette so it is not accurate.

Nutrition