Since starting this blog, I’ve gotten over a number of foods I didn’t think I liked: radishes, carrots, and, most recently, pepper. (I know, pepper is a weird one). I have a list going for Jack too: peas, asparagus, avocado. Check, check, check. And now – with this watercress salad – beets! (Yes, Jack, I lied. These things I told you were turnips were in fact beets). My husband is not a picky eater by any means — there are about five foods he’s adamant about not eating. I just find it a fun game to work these things in. The only thing left on the list is grapefruit, and I’ll save that for another day.
So how do you trick someone into eating beets? Like everything else, you have to prepare the beets a different way. In this salad, I roasted a few for texture and sweetness. I thinly shaved the rest, marinated them in a lemony dressing along with a shaved radish, and kept them raw. The crisp shaved beets work nicely with the chewy wheat berries and crunchy toasted pine nuts. I added some crumbly ricotta salata on top (not pictured), which is optional but recommended. A zingy lemon dressing ties the whole thing together. As Jack was devouring his root veggie salad, he said, “I think this is my favorite salad you’ve made.” I kept my little secret to myself, but the cat’s out of the bag now.
What to Serve with This Salad
This salad would be a delightful spring lunch on its own, but you could also serve it as a side dish with a larger meal. It would pair wonderfully with a light spring soup – try this asparagus soup, this carrot gazpacho, or this ginger miso soup. An egg salad, avocado, or tomato sandwich would be excellent with it as well.
If you love this recipe…
Try this kale salad, this beet salad, this broccoli salad, or this pasta salad next!
I’m using this olive oil right now, and it’s delightful.
