Marinated beets are an appetizing addition to this simple salad of mixed greens and carrots. Walnuts add a nice flavor. If time is of the essence, I’ve included a shortcut of using pickled beets from a jar—but the homemade kind are best! Photos by Evan Atlas.
Serves: 4 to 6
- 3 to 4 medium beets (or see shortcut)
- 2 tbsp apple cider vinegar
- 2 tbsp lemon or lime juice
- 2 tbsp maple syrup or agave nectar
- 3 to 4 oz mixed baby greens or 1/2 head red-leaf lettuce, torn
- 2 medium carrots, peeled and sliced, or shaved with a vegetable peeler
- 1/3 to 1/2 cup chopped walnuts
- several sprigs fresh dill leaves, finely chopped
- 3 tbsp extra-virgin olive oil
- salt and freshly ground pepper, to taste
- Cook or microwave the beets whole, in their skins, until they can be pierced with a fork. For specifics, see How to Cook Beets.
- Combine the vinegar, lemon or lime juice, and maple syrup or agave in a shallow container and whisk together.
- Once the beets are done, plunge them into a bowl of cold water. And once they’re cool enough, cut into small bit-sized chunks; about 3/4-inch is good.
- Add the beets to the liquid mixture in the container, and stir together. Let stand for at least 30 minutes, stirring occasionally.
- In a serving bowl, combine the greens, carrots, walnuts, and dill, and toss together.
- Drain the beets, transferring the liquid used for marinating the beets to a bottle or cruet. Stir in the olive oil. Stir the beets into the greens mixture in the serving bowl.
- Season gently with salt and generously with pepper. Pass around the dressing for embellishing individual servings, or dress the entire salad with it before serving.
Shortcut: Use a 12-ounce jar pickled beets — make sure it’s not too high in added sugars, and NOT high-fructose corn syrup! Drain off a scant 1/2 cup of the liquid to combine with the olive oil to use as the dressing.
- Here are more recipes for colorful green salads.
- Here are more recipes for beets.
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