Beet Salad with Avocado and Feta Cheese

Ohhhh.. the BEET. The humble beet. A powerhouse of nutrients, but so underused. I know most people don’t even think about beets much, never mind a beet salad!! That’s crazy talk, right….. wrong. 

BEET SALAD WITH AVOCADO AND FETA CHEESE

Let me tell you a quick little thing about me. As some of you may know, my heritage is Ukrainian and Dutch. As some of you may also know, Ukrainian Christmas just took place recently.

As some of you may NOT know, my great grandmother, Anastasia Kozak, had 16 children.  Yes…… 16.

Ouchie.

 Well, as family trees grow, it shouldn’t surprise you that our family reunions take place in a HUGE lodge, and they are always pot luck. Can we just talk about the food for a moment??? 

• Cabbage Rolls,
• Nachynka,
• Lazy Cabbage Rolls,
• Nalysnyky,
• Perogies of course,
• Chicken, Beef, Meatballs, Mashed potatoes, roasted vegetables, and plenty of different salads, cheese trays, veggie trays, dressing, condiments, buns, etc.

Let’s not even discuss the multi-table dessert section. When you’re feeding a lodge full of around 75  – 100 people, we need to stock up on the grub!

 So with a lot of people pitching in and bringing a dish, there’s lots of food and everyone pretty much feels like an overstuffed cabbage roll leaving the lodge at the end of the evening. It’s safe to say that going to my yearly family reunion is why treadmills were invented.

As you can guess my dear readers, I made this amazing Beet Salad with Avocado and Feta Cheese to bring to the reunion! It was a hit!

 

So, How Do I Buy Beets? 

You want them firm and deep red (there are other colors you can buy, but we’ll stick with red for this recipe). No soft spots or wrinkled skin.

When you purchase the beets, try your best to get the kinds with the tops still attached. You’ll usually find them in the organic section, but the cost is worth it.

The tops can be used for different recipes that will stretch your grocery buck PLUS are super healthy!  They can also be easily sauteed’ with a bit of butter kind of like spinach or swiss chard!! 

 

How Do I Prepare Beets For Cooking?

For this beet salad, simply scrub the beets and remove the tops, placing them in a sink filled with cold water. While you’re cooking the beets, take the leafy tops and trim off any “beety” part and wash off any visible sand/dirt really well.

Pat them dry with some paper towel, and roll them up in more paper towel and put them in a large plastic bag and place them in the fridge.

They will keep surprisingly well for days.

How Can I Cook Beets? 

There are many ways to cook beets. You can:

• Boil
• Roast
• Microwave
• Grill
• Slow Cook / Instant Pot
• Pressure Cook
• Etc.

Today, we’ll be roasting them in the oven because it’s easy. Mind you, all the ways to cook these are easy really.

How Far Ahead Can I Make This Beet Salad With Avocado and Feta?

You can make this salad quite a ways ahead of time. Here are a few tips for doing that:

• Roast the beets and then cover them in an airtight container. Keep for up to 2-3 days before making the salad.
• Don’t assemble the salad until just before serving.
• You can make the dressing up quite a few days ahead of time and store in the fridge.
• Don’t open the avocado until you’re ready to serve because, well, avocado gets all funky and brown after a while. We like green, pretty avocados!
• The morning of the day you want to serve it, cut the beets and place them in a bowl with the dressing. When you’re ready to serve, place the beets and dressing on the bottom of the serving dish, then assemble everything on top of that. It keeps everything from getting colored pink/red from the beets.

What Are Some Tips When Making This Beet Salad?

Ok, so when assembling the salad, make sure to put the beets and the marinade on the bottom and then layer everything on top of that. If you try to mix it all together, you’ll have a huge, bloody-looking (quite literally) mess because the beets are highly pigmented.

Also, when you peel them, you might want to use gloves, because if you don’t, your hands will become all red-stained from the beets.

This might freak out the kids or your other half. Should be good for a fun moment…haha!!

What Can I Serve With This Salad?

The options are really limitless. This salad would be quite fine as a stand-alone meal, but if you wanted to pair it with something, why not try my recipe for Pickle Brined Fried Chicken.

Or, you could try some Pineapple BBQ Instant Pot Ribs! Another idea could be an Extremely Easy Instant Pot Pulled Pork!

I love this salad because it has really nice earthy fresh flavors, and it pairs so nicely with so many main dishes. It’s truly a versatile salad!

Let me tell you, folks, it’s worth the effort to make this superb recipe!

You’ll want to get the freshest tomatoes and avocado that you can find. Because you’re eating them raw, the salad will be just that much better when you eat it if the ingredients are fresh. 

What Alternatives Can I Use For The Dressing?

Regarding the dressing, this recipe uses an orange juice based dressing. But you could easily use a straight balsamic and oil dressing if you prefer, or even a lime-based type dressing. 

Regardless of the base of the dressing, you will want it to be an acidic type base just to add some tang to the richness of the beets and avocado.

 Well, I hope that you love this recipe as much as my extended family did at the family reunion! When you make this recipe, I’d love to hear what you think about it below! 

Thanks for stopping by The Salty Pot today, and I hope you have a really fantastic day!

**OH, DON’T FORGET TO SAVE THIS BEET AVOCADO AND FETA SALAD PIN TO YOUR FAVORITE PINTEREST BOARD TO USE LATER!**