10 April 2010

Middle Eastern Beet Salad





The recipe for this vibrant salad was from a book called Saha: A Chef's Journey Through Lebanon and Syria by Greg Malouf and Lucy Malouf. I borrowed this wonderful recipe book cum travelogue from the public library and spent many hours pouring over the recipes and reading the vivid descriptions of the streets and sounds of Lebanon and Syria. I made several of the dips and salads dishes from the book, and they were all lovely. Be ready to squeeze lots of lemon and drizzle out lots of olive oil. How can you go wrong, right?

This beet salad was a hit with my walking buddies as part of a healthy all-salad dinner I prepared (the other salads I made that day was a quinoa taboulleh and a cucumber raita) before we went for our weekly power walk.

Unfortunately I forgot to write down the recipes before I had to return the library book, but you really should check out this book for yourself. Next time you are at the bookstore or library look out for it.

This yummy salad has roasted beet roots marinated with a lemon-garlic vinaigrette, with some chunks of peeled orange and lemon wedges thrown in. All this goodness tossed over spring mix leaves and sprinkled over with some roasted pistachio.

I do remember what was interesting in making the vinaigrette was that the garlic had to be slow cooked in a little olive oil until a little golden on the outside but soft on the inside, then mushed up with some salt ( I used my mortar and pestle). Once the garlic was all mushy, lemon juice and olive oil was added to the mix. I am guessing you can also use (pre-)roasted garlic for this dressing.




1 comment:

  1. Great writing Lin! The garlic dressing sounds divine.
    I've been on a salad kick so will add this to my repertoire.

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