Beet Root Salad with Blueberries and Almonds

This Beet Rood Salad is inspired by Moroccan flavors like lemon, turmeric, and cinnamon. It has a rich herb yogurt and zingy dressing! Easily vegan.

This Beet Root Salad is nothing like the classic orange, arugula, feta beet salad we're all used to. That salad is delicious, but this beet salad takes it to the next level.

The flavors are familiar - the beets are sweet, blueberries replace orange as the fruit, mint adds freshness in place of arugula, and yogurt stands in for feta bringing creaminess and richness.

Then Moroccan flavors like cumin, turmeric, cinnamon and lemon swoop in with the dressing! Almonds add crunch and a sprinkle of aleppo pepper, if you have it, finishes off the salad with a very mild fruity spice.

Reasons to love this recipe!

• The Moroccan inspired flavors of this beet salad are a surprising and welcome variation to the traditional beet salad!
• Though the beets take a while to cook, this salad is very simple to make!
• It can be made vegan or paleo and it's naturally gluten free!

Ingredients and Substitutions:

• Beets - use four medium/small beets or 2 extra large beets. I used red beets, but you could use golden, chioggia (the pink and white striped variety), or a mix!
• Marcona almonds - or regular almonds. But i do love the oily salty flavor marcona almonds bring! You can find them at Costco or Trader Joe's.
• Blueberries - blueberries compliment beets beautifully! You could also use raspberries, blackberries, or segmented oranges.
• Mint -or basil, parsley, cilantro, or a mix.
• Herb Yogurt - I used dairy free yogurt and stirred in lemon juice, chopped herbs, aleppo pepper, salt and olive oil.
• Dressing - moroccan inspired to toss the beets in. Made with olive oil, lemon juice, maple syrup, cumin, turmeric, cinnamon, aleppo pepper, and salt.

How to make Beet Root Salad:

Cook the beets: Cook the beets until they are knife tender all the way to the middle using any method you'd like. I boiled them for this recipe. Check out the "How to cook and peel beets" section below for more options.

Peel and cut the beets: Once cooked, remove the beets from the water and set aside until they are cool enough to touch. Use a paring knife gently peel off the skin. Slice each beet into 6-8 wedges.

Make the yogurt: While the beets cook, stir together the yogurt ingredients. Store in the fridge until you're ready to use. As it sits the flavors will infuse and deepen!

Whisk the dressing: In a large bowl, whisk together the dressing. As soon as the beets are peeled and still warm, add them to the dressing. It will help them soak in the flavor.

Assemble: Start by adding a dollop of yougurt to your serving bowl or plate. Layer on some beets, spooning over some dressing, then blueberries, almonds, and mint.

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Storage?

Store in the fridge for 3-7 days. It's best to store the yogurt separately from the beets if possible.

How to cook and peel beets

When it comes to both cooking and peeling beets, there are several methods and all will work for this recipe. Keep in mind that no matter your cooking method, the size of your beets will dictate the cooking time. Times listed are for medium sized beets (which probably look like small beets in the store next to the huge ones they often sell). If your beets are small, they will cook faster. If they are large, they will need to cook longer. The best way to tell if they are done is if they are knife tender all the way to the center of the beet.

Cook beets by boiling

Take a large pot, add in the beets, and cover them with water. Bring to a boil, cover, and cook for about 40 minutes until knife tender.

Cook beets by roasting

Preheat your oven to 400 degrees. Wrap each beet in aluminum foil and place on a baking sheet. Bake for 45-75 minutes depending on the size of your beets. Once they are knife tender all the way to the center, they are done.

Cook beets in the instant pot

To cook beets in the instant pot, add your steamer trivet to the bottom of the pot along with 1 cup water. Lay the beets on the trivet and close the lid. Set the instant pot to high pressure for 12-18 minutes. Choosing 12 minutes for small beets and 18 for large beets. It's better to err on the side of less done and cook for an additional 1-2 minutes. Once they are knife tender all the way to the center, they are done.

To peel beets

When it comes to peeling beets, there are two main methods both of which are done after the beets are cooked. During the cooking process the skin softens making it much easier to remove.

First, you can use a paring knife to gently peel away the skin.

Secondly, if your beets are soft enough, you can use paper towels to "wipe" away the skin. It will peel off into the paper towel as you use wiling motions along the beet. You can clean up any left behind skin with a paring knife.

More Beet Recipes to love!

• Orange Beet Latte
• Golden Beet Cauliflower Soup
• Baked Double Chocolate Beet Donuts
• Roasted Beet Salad with Herb Marinated Lentils

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