beet salad with feta and walnuts

Beet Salad with Feta & Walnuts

Here’s a delicious beet salad with feta & walnuts: it uses summer produce along with easy to find ingredients. It can be made up to 2 days ahead of time, so plan your work to suit your schedule. It’s delicious, it’s easy to make, and it can be served either right from the fridge or at room temperature. Gotta love flexibility!

This beet salad is perfect for using up any leftover beets you might have around – and it’s also good enough to be worth cooking beets and chilling them just for this dish. Like most composed salads, it is also flexible: substitute almonds for walnuts, add in some celery for crunch. Feel free to make it your own.

This salad is all about the preparation. Cook and chill the beets ahead of time (or just use leftovers). Toast the walnut pieces if you like, but cool them before using. Finely mince garlic and chop some fresh herbs. Crumble feta. Once you have these ingredients ready, the salad will come together very quickly.

 

first, the dressing

I use a simple vinaigrette spiked with pomegranate molasses. Taste the dressing as you go: even more than most, this salad dressing needs to be balanced.

Pour 2 to 2 1/2 tablespoons olive oil into a medium bowl. Add a scant tablespoon of red wine vinegar or lemon juice, and whisk madly. Now add in the garlic, minced very fine or pressed through a sieve, a pinch of salt, and a glug of pomegranate molasses. Add the chopped herbs. Whisk again.

Taste the dressing, and keep tasting. When you think it’s balanced – that is, you can taste all the flavors but none of them jump up and grab your tongue – it’s ready.

assemble the salad

Peel and chop 2 medium beets which have previously been cooked and chilled. (Yes, you can use canned beets; drain them first.) 

Add 1/2 cup walnut pieces (toast them lightly if you’d like to) and 1/2 cup feta cheese, crumbled. Mix gently with the dressing.

serve chilled or at room temperature

Serve as is, or over butter lettuce for even more crunch. This makes enough to serve 4 as a side dish.

 

beet salad with feta and walnuts

Beet Salad with Feta & Walnuts

Course: Side Dish, Salad
Cuisine: American
Keyword: potato salad, beets
Prep Time: 20 minutes
Cook Time: 0 minutes
Servings: 4
Deeply flavorful, this salad starts with beets, cooked and chilled. Canned beets may be used if you prefer.
Print Recipe

Ingredients

  • 2 Tbsp olive oil, plus a bit more to drizzle
  • 1 scant Tbsp red wine vinegar or lemon juice
  • 1 small clove garlic, minced
  • 1 pinch salt
  • 1-2 tsp pomegranate molasses
  • 1 Tbsp chopped fresh dill or oregano if you prefer
  • 2 medium beets, cooked & chilled sub canned beets if you wish
  • ½ cup walnuts, broken up and toasted
  • ½ cup crumbled feta cheese

Instructions

  • I use a simple vinaigrette that’s been spiked with pomegranate molasses. Taste as you go: even more than most, this salad dressing needs to be balanced.
  • Pour 2 to 2½ tablespoons olive oil into a medium bowl. Add a scant tablespoon of red wine vinegar or lemon juice, and whisk madly. Now add in the garlic, minced very fine or pressed through a sieve, a pinch of salt, and a glug of pomegranate molasses. Add the chopped herbs. Whisk again.
  • Taste the dressing, and keep tasting. When you think it’s balanced – that is, you can taste all the flavors but none of them jump up and grab your tongue – it’s ready.
  • Peel and chop 2 medium beets which have previously been cooked and chilled. (Yes, you can use canned beets; drain them first.) 
  • Add ½ cup walnut pieces (toast them lightly if you’d like to) and ½ cup crumbled feta cheese. Mix gently with the dressing.
  • Serve as is, or over butter lettuce for even more crunch.