Don’t throw away your beet greens! Next time you buy beets, make this gorgeous and mouthwateringly delicious salad!! If you make it the day you buy the beets, you’ll be able to really make beautiful use of their delightfully crisp leaves and then store the beets in the refrigerator until you’re ready to use them (they keep quite well in the crisper drawer without their leaves for a good week and a half at least). On their own, they can be a little bit bitter, but they make the perfectly fresh, bright salad green when balanced with tart pink pickled onions (recipe here), sweet carrot slices, cooling cucumber, and a lemon Dijon vinaigrette sweetened with maple syrup. I add a little cilantro and scallions for flavor, and garnish with cured egg yolk shavings (recipe here), although you can really top it with whatever you have on hand, like flax seeds, parmesan cheese, queso fresco, crumbly bacon bits, croutons, pomegranate arils, or crushed hemp seeds, just to name a handful of options.
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In a large mixing bowl, toss together the beet greens, cilantro, and scallions.
In a small mixing bowl, whisk together the Dijon mustard, maple syrup, and lemon juice until combined.
While continually whisking, drizzle in a few drops of the olive oil. Once it is completely incorporated, add a few more drops. Do this until the entire Tbsp of oil is emulsified into the vinaigrette. Add the salt and pepper and whisk again.
Drizzle about 2-4 Tbsp of the dressing (depending on your preference… you can always start small then add more little by little until you are happy with the flavor) onto the greens and toss until they are nicely coated.
Add your carrots, cucumbers, and pink pickled onions (saving a few for garnish) and toss until they are well dispersed and coated in the excess vinaigrette.
Arrange your salad onto a serving plate and sprinkle your reserved pink pickled onions onto the top. Shave your cured egg yolk (or whatever garnish you have chosen) over the entire salad, and serve immediately.
Beet Greens Salad
Ingredients
- 1 bunch beets greens, stems removed and leaves torn to desired size
- 2 scallions (white and green parts), chopped
- 1 lemon, juiced
- ¼ cup pink pickled onion, roughly chopped
- small handful cilantro
- 3 carrots, thinly sliced
- 2 miniature cucumbers, thinly sliced
- 1 Tbsp Dijon mustard
- 1½ Tbsp maple syrup
- 1 Tbsp extra virgin olive oil
- 1/4 tsp kosher salt,
- freshly ground black pepper, to taste
- optional cured egg yolk shavings (swap with crushed hemp seed if vegan), for garnish
Instructions
- In a large mixing bowl, toss together the beet greens, cilantro, and scallions.
- In a small mixing bowl, whisk together the Dijon mustard, maple syrup, and lemon juice until combined. While continually whisking, drizzle in a few drops of the olive oil. Once it is completely incorporated, add a few more drops. Do this until the entire Tbsp of oil is emulsified into the vinaigrette. Add the salt and pepper and whisk again.
- Drizzle about 2-4 Tbsp of the dressing (depending on your preference… you can always start small then add more little by little until you are happy with the flavor) onto the greens and toss until they are nicely coated.
- Add your carrots, cucumbers, and pink pickled onions (saving a few for garnish) and toss until they are well dispersed and coated in the excess vinaigrette.
- Arrange your salad onto a serving plate and sprinkle your reserved pink pickled onions onto the top. Shave your cured egg yolk (or whatever garnish you have chosen) over the entire salad, and serve immediately.