My good friend Sage shared this recipe with me. I love steaming my vegetables for maximum nutrient availability, but the beets and green beans can also be boiled for ease.
Ingredients for Cold Beet Salad: Beets, green beans, goat cheese, lemon, olive oil, salt and pepper
Why I Love It
Beets Are Healthy
Beets are very high in a phytonutrient called betalain. Betalains function both as antioxidants and anti-inflammatory molecules (see my post What Are Antioxidants Good For). Rhubarb, chard, amaranth, prickly pear cactus, and Nopal cactus are examples of foods that also contain betalains
Nutrition in Green Beans
Green beans contain a wide variety of carotenoids and flavonoids which have all been shown to have health-supportive antioxidant properties.
Only 5 Ingredients
Simply steam beets and beans together, and add lemon juice and goat cheese. Seasoning is optional but highly recommended – I suggest quality olive oil and salt and pepper.
Peel and cube the beets. Trim the ends off the beans and chop into 2″ lengths.
Recipe Tips
Making A Canned Beet Salad
To save on time you can use canned beets in place of fresh beets. Canned beets do not need to be cooked, so simply drain the canned beets and add them to a bowl. Blanch the prepared green beans in boiling water for 1 minute before adding them to an ice bath to stop the cooking process. Add the balanced beans to the canned beans, along with the remaining ingredients.
How To Keep The Goat Cheese White
If you mix all of the prepared ingredients together at once, the goat cheese will take on the colour of the beets. To keep the goat cheese white, fold in the goat cheese last once all the other ingredients are mixed together.
Adding Dill
I love the combination of beets and dill. Add 1/2 cup of fresh chopped dill to the beets, green beans, lemon and olive oil. Fold in the goat cheese at the end.
Add chopped beets to the steamer.
Recipe Notes
Making It Vegan
You can omit the goat cheese to make a vegan beet salad. Try topping it with a cashew cheese like this one.
Using Asparagus in Place of Green Beans
Take advantage of the short asparagus season in the Spring. To use asparagus in this beet salad, first, prepare the asparagus by trimming off the bottom woody ends. Cut the asparagus into 1 1/2″ pieces and then use it as per the recipe in place of the green beans.
Using Vinegar In Place Of Lemon
If you don’t have a lemon on hand you can use vinegar to season this salad. I like the combination of balsamic and red wine vinegar – use 1 1/2 tablespoons of each.
Add beans on top of beets in the steamer.
More Beet Recipes?
Here are some of my favourite recipes using beets:
- Beetroot Dip with Cream Cheese
- Raw Beetroot Salad with Kale Apple and Dill
- Baked Tofu Kale Quinoa Salad with Glory Bowl Dressing
Cool the beets and beans. Once cooled add the remaining ingredients – lemon juice, olive oil, salt and pepper and goat cheese last.
More Salad Recipes?
Here are some of my favourite salad recipes:
- Baked Tofu Kale Quinoa Salad with Glory Bowl Dressing
- Baked Tempeh Asian Salad with Ginger Sesame Dressing
- Japanese Salad Bowls with a Miso Tahini Dressing and Brown Rice
Cold Beet Salad with Goat Cheese and Green Beans
Ingredients
- 6 small beets greens removed
- 1 lbs green beans 2 handfuls
- 3 oz goat cheese organic
- 1/8 cup olive oil extra-virgin
- 1 lemon juiced (or 1/4 cup)
- 1/2 tsp sea salt
- black pepper ground
Instructions
- Peel the beets and chop them into 1" cubes. Place in steamer and let steam for about 25 minutes. Keep checking on them, they should be tender but have a slight resistance.
- Wash the beans and trim of the end bits and discard. Chop the beans into 2 inch pieces. After about 25 minutes of the beets steaming add the green beans to the steamer. They will only require 3 minutes to cook.
- Check that the beets and the green beans are tender to your liking and remove from heat and place them in a bowl to cool. You can put the bowl in the fridge to speed up the process.
- Once the vegetables are cool, add the olive oil and lemon juice to the bowl. Season with salt and pepper.
- Lastly, crumble on the goat cheese just before serving. It is best to add this last so the cheese doesn't turn purple. Enjoy!
Notes
Make it 50% raw: Do not cook the green beans. Stir in 2-3 cups of baby spinach.