Sunday, June 21, 2009

Beet, Carrot and Feta Salad

This recipe appears in the Make It From Scratch carnival at It's Frugal Being Green. If you came from the carnival, welcome!

Here's another delicious summer salad. One of my sisters, who gave me this recipe, told me that this salad changed her from being a lifelong beet hater to a true beet lover! Give it a try and see if it will do the same for you!



Serves 4 INGREDIENTS:

· 2 medium large raw beets, peeled
· 4-5 medium carrots, peeled
· 1 15-ounce can chickpeas, well drained
· feta cheese for garnish (approx. 1 - 1 1/2 cups total)
· 1/3 cup extra virgin olive oil
· juice of half an orange (or 3-4 Tbs orange juice)
· 2 Tbs balsamic vinegar
· 1 tsp dried dill (or 2 Tbs fresh chopped dill)
· 1 minced clove garlic
· black pepper to taste
· salt to taste (go light because of the saltiness of the feta cheese)

PROCEDURE:

Get started by making the dressing in a mixing bowl, that is large enough to eventually make the salad in, by combining about 1/3 cup of extra virgin olive oil with the juice of half of a fresh squeezed orange, 2-3 Tbs of balsamic vinegar, about 1 tsp of dried dill, a good crack of fresh ground black pepper and 1 minced clove of garlic and whisk it up.

Next, use a peeler to peel a couple of medium sized beets over the sink and then use a box grater to grate those raw beets right into the bowl with the dressing. Then grate an equal amount of peeled carrots over the top of that.

Be super careful with your fingers as you're grating the vegetables or, if you wanted to, you could use a food processor with a shredder attachment instead.

Next, add 1 well drained 15-ounce can of chickpeas and toss everything around to coat.

All that is left is to check it for seasoning, maybe add a little more orange juice or dill and maybe a pinch of salt but, be careful with the salt because the feta cheese we're finishing with is pretty salty itself. Finish each individual serving with a little crumbled feta cheese over the top.

I've got some big news coming tomorrow. Be sure and check back!

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