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Try this Beet Salad Recipe with Feta and Dill: it's an easy side dish recipe and is a great alternative to the usual dinner sides. Served cold with citrus and olive oil as a dressing it is a healthy and fresh option for any season!
Try these other great salad recipes: Strawberry Salad, Marinated Vegetable Salad and Cajun Black Bean Salad.
Beet Salad
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Full disclosure: I've never been much of a fan of beets (what a way to start a post about a beet salad, right?!). I don't have a huge sweet tooth and I know their earthy flavor can be divisive. Interestingly, if they're part of a salad, I tend to leave them in because I'm ok with a bit of that earthy flavor seeping into my dressing. Weirdo.
All that to say, this salad is is delicious and I'll happily eat beets in this form. I roast beets and cut them up then added some really thinly sliced red onions for crunch and flavor. Feta cheese was obviously a must! I opted for olive oil and lemon juice for brightness and couldn't resist chopping some fresh dill and throwing it in because I can never seem to get enough dill in my life. The result was a crazy delicious and easy-to-make cold beet salad that can turn anyone into a beet-believer!
When handling the beets, I highly recommend using gloves when working with them if you don't want to end up with pink hands.
I'd encourage you to hold off on adding the feta cheese until just before serving. If you do it earlier, it'll still taste the same, but the beet juices will turn the feta purple, so you won't get the prettycontrast of the white against the purple beets.
Don't throw those beet greens away- once washed, they're tasty sautéed with olive oil, garlic and salt and pepper.
Serve this at any dinner party or as a tasty alternative option to the usual suspects on any holiday table!
Ingredient information that's helpful to know:
Beets:I used standard purple beets, but this is also delicious with golden beets if that's what is available.
Feta cheese:I buy mine already crumbled and prefer full-fat.
Red onion:Slice these as thin as possible (with a mandolin or a very sharp knife). If the flavor of raw onions is too much for you, soak them in very cold water for 10-15 minutes and then drain really well before adding to the salad; this will take the edge off the flavor and mellow the onions out a bit.
Fresh dill: Don't leave the dill out, it adds a fresh, lovely flavor. If you can't get your hands on fresh dill, dried dill works too.
How do you roast beets?
Roasting the beets is a breeze! Wash them well, remove the top and bottom, drizzle with a little EVOO and wrap tightly in foil before popping them into the oven. Roast at 400 degrees for around an hour (or more if needed). Cool and peel.
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Try this Beet Salad Recipe with Feta and Dill
Jessy Freimann
Try this Beet Salad Recipe with Feta and Dill: it's an easy side dish recipe and is a great alternative to the usual dinner sides. Served cold with citrus and olive oil as a dressing it is a healthy and fresh option for any season!
Preheat oven to 400 degrees and lay out a piece of foil for each beet.
Place each beet onto a piece of foil. Drizzle a small amount of oil into it and wrap each beet tightly so that the steam stays in the packet.
Roast for around 1 hour- check them for doneness (they should be fork tender) and if need be, bake for longer (mine took around 1 hours and 15 minutes).
When the beets are done, refrigerate until they've cooled completely.
Once cool, peel off the skins (they should peel off really easily with your fingers or a knife, if you'd prefer) and cut into bite-size wedges.
Drizzle with a little oil and the juice of 1 lemon and toss with onion, dill, salt and pepper to taste.
Refrigerate until ready to serve. Just before serving, top with crumbled Feta cheese to taste.
Unwrap the beets and let them cool. Meanwhile, whisk oil, vinegar, mustard, honey, salt and pepper in a small bowl to make dressing. When the beets are cool enough to handle, slip off the skins. Cut into 1/2-inch cubes and place in a large bowl.
Cook and stir shredded beets in hot butter until slightly softened, about 5 minutes. Pour water over the beets, cover skillet with a lid, and simmer beets until completely softened, about 10 minutes. Stir balsamic vinegar with the beets; season with salt and pepper.
You can use cooked beets in salads, to make hummus or to blend into smoothies. They can be diced for slaw, quartered for a grain bowl or mashed to make a dip or spread. Their thick and chewy texture is even great in a galette or quesadilla.
If you've ever tried borscht, then you know how well beets and potatoes go together. Take that principle one step further by adding canned beets to your favorite potato salad recipe. In addition to providing visual interest to the all-white side dish, beets pump up the nutrition in potato salad.
Beets are a weekly ritual around here. Usually we boil them and toss them in a sweet sour vinaigrette and keep them in the refrigerator to eat all week. The vinegar in the dressing "pickles" the beets, helping them last longer in the fridge.
How to Store Beet Salad. Cooked beets will last for three to five days in the refrigerator. Store them in an airtight container or heavy-duty aluminum foil for best results. To freeze beets for salad, store them (cubed or whole) in a freezer-safe container or bag for up to eight months.
Steaming in the oven rather than baking helps preserve more of the healthy vitamins and minerals in beets. This method also helps beets better retain their beautiful, vibrant color.
While a bit of honey, maple syrup, or stevia can help mask earthy undertones, add these sweeteners conservatively to avoid overwhelming the natural flavors of the beets.
Cure your vegetables as you would a piece of meat for a couple of days. This can be achieved by rubbing the vegetable or mushroom with salt at a concentration of 1.75% of the vegetable's weight, wrapping it tightly in plastic or vacuum sealing it, and letting it sit in the fridge for 2-3 days.
The oxalates found in beets can increase your uric acid level, meaning that too many beets can lead to gout. To avoid this, stick to no more than a single half-cup serving of beets per day.
Beets are high in fiber and promote the growth of good bacteria in your gut. Having plenty of healthy bacteria in your digestive system helps fight disease and boost your immune system. Fiber also improves digestion and reduces the risk of constipation.
While it may seem like a good idea to have beets daily because of their benefits, you may need to exercise caution when eating them. Eating beets or drinking beet juice may lead to kidney stones, a potential food allergy, or stool or urine color changes.
While not as popular as other canned vegetables like corn or green beans (via USA Today), canned beets are an honorable underdog, and so is their liquid. Plain or salted, you should never get rid of the liquid from canned beets because it is completely edible!
Unlike other vegetables that taste different than their fresh or frozen counterparts, canned beets retain a flavor that rivals fresh beets. They also maintain about the same nutritional value as fresh beetroots, giving you a good source of fibre, iron and folate.
Beet juice may boost stamina to help you exercise longer, improve blood flow, and help lower blood pressure, some research shows. Why? Beets are rich in natural chemicals called nitrates. Through a chain reaction, your body changes nitrates into nitric oxide, which helps with blood flow and blood pressure.
Health benefits of beets include more stamina during exercise, heart disease and stroke prevention, and lower blood pressure. You can roast, grate, or put them into soups and salads. If you're prone to kidney stones or gout, avoid beets or limit how much you eat.
However, most Americans don't get enough fiber, and beets are a good source of the insoluble type, which helps keep you regular and full longer than beet juice. Raw beets contain more vitamins, minerals and antioxidants than cooked beets (yes, you can eat beets raw!).
You can even enjoy them raw, either sliced thinly or grated. Choose beets that feel heavy for their size with fresh, unwilted green leafy tops still attached, if possible. Because dietary nitrates are water-soluble, it's best to avoid boiling beets if you'd like to maximize their nitrate content.
Introduction: My name is Aron Pacocha, I am a happy, tasty, innocent, proud, talented, courageous, magnificent person who loves writing and wants to share my knowledge and understanding with you.
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