Description
This beet salad recipe always gets rave reviews! Just read all our 5-star ratings! It’s made with red and golden beets, feta cheese, pistachios, craisins, and cilantro in a simple citrus vinaigrette. Steam the beets ahead and the salad comes together in 20 minutes!
Ingredients
- 1 1/2 pounds beets (red, golden, or a mix) cooked, peeled and diced (see notes)
- 1/3 cup red onion, very finely chopped
- 1 garlic clove, finely minced, use a garlic press
- 4 tablespoons olive oil
- 2 tablespoons red wine vinegar (or Apple Cider or Champagne Vinegar)
- 1 orange (2 tablespoons zest and 4 tablespoons juice)
- 1/2– 1 cup craisins ( or sub-dried currants)
- 1/2 teaspoon salt, more to taste
- 1/2 teaspoon pepper
- 1 cup cilantro, chopped, tender stems OK ( or sub some mint, Italian parsley, basil)
- 1/2 –1 cup pistachios
- 1 cup feta, cut into cubes
- Optional Garnish: For a festive twist you could top with pomegrante seed!
Instructions
- Boil, roast or steam beets until fork tender (See notes-you can do this ahead and refrigerate, or purchase steamed beets). Trim and rub under cool running water to remove skin. Dice into small, 1/2 inch cubes. Place in a large bowl.
- Add diced onion, garlic, olive oil, vinegar, orange zest and orange juice, craisins, salt and pepper and mix to combine well. Add cilantro, pistachios and feta. Gently toss.
- Taste, add more pistachios, craisins or feta to taste. Adjust salt and pepper. Sometimes I’ll add another squeeze of orange juice.
- Serve in a bowl and garnish with cilantro.
Notes
Cooking Beets:
- Lately I like using my Instant Pot to steam beets ahead ( like the day before). Place the steamer basket in the Insant pot with 1 cup of water in the bottom, set to pressure High for 16 minutes for 3 inch diameter beets. Cut extra-large beets in half. Naturally release. Refrigerate until ready to use.
- You can always boil beets in a big pot, totally submerged in water or steam them in a big pot on the stovetop, using a steamer basket. Again, I like to cut bigger beets in half for faster cooking. Of course, they can be roasted in the oven as well. ( 425F, oiled, salted & peppered, wrapped in foil or in a baking dish covered in foil, or in a dutch oven 45-65 mins depending on size. ) Take your pick.
This salad is beautiful using all golden beets. I used both here, but golden beets will lose their color when mixed with red beets. For the photos I added the golden beets over the red, to preserve their color for the photos.
This salad will keep 3-4 days in the fridge. If making ahead, toss in the cilantro and pistachios right before serving, and re-taste for salt and vinegar, adding more if necessary.
If you opt to leave the dried cranberries out you may need to balance this with a little sweetness- a small spoonful of maple syrup may do it!
Nutrition
- Serving Size:
- Calories: 214
- Sugar: 12.9 g
- Sodium: 212.7 mg
- Fat: 14.7 g
- Saturated Fat: 4.3 g
- Carbohydrates: 17.9 g
- Fiber: 2.8 g
- Protein: 5.3 g
- Cholesterol: 16.7 mg
