What do root vegetables, seeds and goats have in common?
Believe it or not, but these are the ingredients of a very fresh, healthy, gorgeous looking and extremely tasty salad. Yes, it’s another salad. And if you’re still wondering about the goat, rest assured – I do not use this animal in my recipe, just the product – goat cheese.
Peaked your attention? Read on!
I sometimes talk about food as if it were a live person or something. How else can you describe the Oh-Em-Gee moment when you taste something that creates a symphony in your mouth? The flavor and the smell of certain foods brings you either comfort, or a memory, or an idea. And sometimes it does not let you rest until you figure it out what it is that makes it so special to you.
The salad recipe that I am about to share with you is precisely like that. It could be that the first time I tried it was made by a dear friend while I was visiting Lithuania last summer. It could be the refreshing, familiar, soul cleansing conversation we were having while she was making it. It could also be that the moment I tasted it I wanted to recreate it and spend the rest of the summer trying out different variations – some a distant echo of wanna-be-delicious salads and some – true masterpieces of flavor. It could also be that when I introduced it to my family and friends here, it received total appreciation and “mmmm’s” and “mhmhmh’s” with closed eyes and deep breaths or tilted heads with eyes looking towards the sky as if it was heavenly manna they were consuming.
I know I know. I tend to over-do it in my descriptions of food. You’d think I must’ve starved in my past life or something. But making something that nourishes your body and is good for you kind of makes you want to be a better person, don’t you think? When I take the time to make something, I want to share with people and it’s my way of giving a piece of my heart to them.
Now that you learned that I am not only academically inclined, like to cook but also am prone to rambling, let’s get into the actual recipe of this totally stupendous salad.
The ingredients in the recipe below can be easily manipulated. And the root vegetable I so aptly mentioned in my opening question is none other than my favorite beets. I feel like I should almost start a new category for dishes made with/from beets!
A recipe of a nutritious, refreshing and versatile beet salad.
- 4 medium size beets cooked
- 2 tomatoes
- 1/2 English cucumber or
- 1 pickling size cucumber
- 1/2 bell pepper
- 1/2 red onion
- 1 handful pumpkin seeds
- 4 oz goat cheese
- arugula, enough to cover a large dinner plate
- 4 tbsp olive oil
- 1-2 tbsp balsamic vinegar
- 1-2 tbsp honey
- parsley, salt, pepper to taste
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1. If you are using uncooked beets, cook them until they are soft and allow them to cool off so it is easier to handle.
2. When the beets are ready, cut them into bite size pieces and soak them in half of the dressing.
3. In the meantime, prepare the rest of the ingredients.
Place arugula on a large dinner plate, chop the onions, cut up the cucumber, pepper and tomatoes, toast the pumpkin seeds.
4. Arrange the ingredients on the plate in (more or less) the following order: arugula, tomatoes, cucumbers, bell pepper, onion, toasted seeds and beets.
5. Top everything with crumbled goat cheese and the remainder of the dressing.
Here are a few ways you could “mix it up” so to speak.
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I think this salad is magnificent with goat cheese. However, if that is something that you do not have available or simply dislike, feta cheese is wonderful as well.
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The beets can be simply cubed and placed on top of the rest of the ingredients, or they can be soaked in the dressing, or – per my ingenious sister-in-law – they can be not only covered in dressing but also baked in the oven and served warm.
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At the same time the base of the entire salad can be almost anything – from iceberg lettuce, to baby spinach to – and that is my favorite, along with the goat cheese – arugula.
What do you think? Have you ever tried this salad or any variation of it?
What ingredients would you add/substitute? Let me know in the comments below!