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Saturday, October 08, 2011

Nash Holos recipe: Beet & Mushroom salad

While we're certainly accustomed to beets in soup, pickled, or roasted with other root vegetables, they're also excellent in salads!

In addition to their wonderful taste, beets have outstanding health benefits as well including (among other things) high amounts of beta carotene, vitamin C and iron. Perhaps this is why they're the pagan symbol for love and beauty!

I was introduced to this recipe some time ago by Nash Holos food columnist, the late Sylvia Molnar. I thought it was an unusual (even odd) combination for a salad, but gave it a try ... and it's become one of my favourites.

It's a make-ahead, so on top of being easy to make in the first place, it's one less thing to worry about during meal prep time.

In a pinch, canned beets can be used in this recipe. But I prefer using fresh beets. They have a rich, sweet earthiness that gets lost in the canning process.

Beets can be prepared easily enough. Choose beets in similar size. Wash them well, wrap in foil and roast at 400ºF for about an hour, or until tender when pierced with a thin bladed knife. The skins will slip off easily once they’re cooked.

Less messy than peeling them raw and boiling!

Here's what you'll need for Ukrainian Beet & Mushroom Salad:

1 medium onion, finely chopped
1 cup sliced fresh mushrooms
1/2 cup olive oil
4 cups cooked diced beets
1 Tbsp sugar
1/4 tsp salt
3 cloves crushed garlic
2 Tbsp vinegar
1/4 tsp ground pepper

Sauté onion and mushrooms in oil over medium heat until soft, then add the beets. Mix the remaining ingredients, and toss with the onion-beet-mushroom mixture.

Chill overnight. Serve cold. Makes about 8 servings.

Smachnoho!


4 comments:

Joan Brander said...

Thanks for bringing this timely recipe to me. It was fun shopping together at Richmond Country Farms for fall veggies and then making this salad with you. It was super easy, colourful, and yummy. I think Marcia thought so too. LOL It was great visiting and eating with both of you.

Pawlina said...

You're welcome, Joan!

It was great fun making the salad with you and enjoying what a hit it was with family and friends.

So Sylvia was right after all (as usual!) about the recipe. :-)

Ken said...

Ok, I'll admit, I haven't listened to the program yet, but I have a question. Is the garlic used just "crushed" and not cooked with the onion and mushrooms? Looks like it is added after onion and mushrooms are sautéed, then mixed with the beets, adding the remaining ingredients, including the garlic. Just curious. Thanks!

Pawlina said...

Well Ken the nice thing about recipes is that they are not cast in stone! :-)

Myself, I love fresh garlic so I just crushed it and added to the cooked ingredients once they had cooled.

But feel free to experiment and try cooking it with the onion and mushrooms.

If you do, please let us know how it turned out, and which way you prefer it!

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