This salad is almost too fun to eat! It may come as no surprise, but I absolutely love and am inspired by colourful foods. Not only does their colour represent body-boosting nutrients, their vibrant hues are almost impossible to resist.
If you’re a beet lover (like I am), this salad is for you!
Ingredients:
4 medium-sized beets, scrubbed clean
2 cups salad greens of choice
4 radishes, thinly sliced (I used home- pickled radishes which also work really well here)
1 avocado, cubed
1 cup edamame (shelled)
1/4 cup feta, crumbled
1 tbsp sesame seeds
For the beet-tahini dressing:
1 cup beet, cubed (cooked and cooled)
1/4 cup tahini
3 tbsp lemon juice
1 clove garlic
1 tbsp nutritional yeast
2 tbsp olive oil
2 tbsp water
Salt and pepper, to taste
Directions:
1) Preheat oven to 400F. Wash beets and wrap individually in foil with a drizzle of olive oil. Bake for 45-60 minutes, depending on the size of the beets (i.e. larger beets will take longer to cook through). They’re done when a fork can be inserted with minimal resistance. Let cool and peel. Beets will be used in salad cold (though reserve one for the dressing), so feel free to place in fridge once cooled slightly to speed up this process. Once cooled, cut into chunks.
2) Prepare the remaining salad ingredients and place into a large bowl.
3) Prepare the dressing. Add 1 medium-sized beet, cooked and chopped (or 1 cup cubed) to a blender along with the remaining dressing ingredients. Blend until smooth. Adjust seasoning as desired.
4) Add cooled beets to salad bowl and toss ingredients to combine.
5) Add salad to a bowl or plate and drizzle with beet-tahini dressing.
*If using all varieties of beets (red, golden and chioggia), feel free to keep the chioggia (or “candy cane”) beets raw to preserve their beautiful colour! You could cook them if you’d like as well (FYI the colour does becoming quite muted). FYI golden and chioggia beets are also prone to oxidation— or turning brown when exposed to air!
