beetroot and other salads

At a recent pub lunch I had a lovely salad with beetroot falafels. No idea how they made these, but they were really delicious.

Frisee, bacon and poached egg. I could live on it!

basic salad dressing:
2 tbsp. oil - your choice
1 tbsp vinegar - your choice
2 teasp honey
2 teasp mustard. There are many variations, adapt to your taste.
make in a small screwtop jar and shake to emulsify.
I use this in a recipe for couscous salad.
Half a glass of medium couscous, soaked in the same amount of boiling water. Fork up, allow to rest then add to about 2 tbsp of the above dressing. Fork up again - it dries out slowly.
When cool add some raisins, chopped nuts and chopped dried apricots.

I love potato salad, made with mayo, New Jersey potatoes, peas, maybe chives plus maybe chopped radishes.

Veggie mayo available in most health food shops.

I’m not keen on beetroot, because I was made to eat it as a child. It came out of a jar, and we had it with Spam and plain boiled potatoes with margarine. In fact, I found most childhood meals dreary- my mother was an uninterested cook, so we had uninteresting food. I remember the first time we went abroad, to France and Italy, and how delicious the food was: herby roast chickens, crusty bread, olive oil, huge knobbly tomatoes, greengages, enormous ripe peaches...

Oh dear, quantities, you've caught me out there.
I'll check them out and write again later.

Fennel
Thank you, can't wait to try them, sound delicious. Are there any particular quantities I should use?

Mushroom salad. Wash mushrooms. Drain. Put in microwaveable dish. Cook for 3 minutes on high. Drain. Break up smaller, cool on kitchen paper. Mix with curry powder and mayonnaise.

Photocrazy I agree that salad dressings are difficult.
I don't like the taste of olive oil so use walnut oil instead. Then apple vinegar honey and mustard - shake in a screwtop jar.
There's another nice one, thicker - melt some butter and add 2 egg yolks, beat until thick then add some cider or balsamic vinegar and chopped fresh herbs.
Experiment with different kinds of vinegar too. Or use lemon juice instead.

ecci53 Beetroot and cottage cheese sammies for me - until I had to change to Paleo bread - and you can't make anything other than toast with that.

Not a salad, but has anyone tried bacon and beetroot sandwiches. My Dad used to make them and they are totally delicious.

It's not the salads I struggle with, it's how to make nice dressings.

Some lovely ideas on this thread! I'm adding it to my watch list for future reference!

Chopped apple unpeeled, chopped celery, halved grapes and some walnuts all mixed together with some Hellmans mayo. Lovely and fresh.

One of my favourite salads is roasted beetroot and roasted pumpkin cut into cubes, add some baby spinach and feta (or cream) cheese and dress with balsamic dressing......Yummy.
It is nice warm too.

I have two favourite beetroot salads, not always kept for summer.

Cook, peel and dice the beetroot. Cook brown rice in required amounts. Whilst still a little warm, toss the brown rice with a small amount of aioli, just enough to lightly coat. Split a spring onion lengthways then using scissors, chop into the bowl with the rice, add the beetroot and diced feta cheese. Tos to mix.

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Grate beetroot and carrot, add oil of choice and finely chopped garlic. Place in a plastic bag (please don't faint, some of us still use plastic) and toss together so everything is coated in garlic oil.

Place in fridge. This salad is best made a few hours before you need it and kept cold. Just before serving, add any choice of sunflower, pumpkin or sesame seeds or pine nuts.

I also love raw broccoli and/or cauliflower dipped in garlicky hummus.

I can't tell you how hungry this has made me !!

Haven't actually tried mud, but agree with Aggie- beetroot tastes and smells muddy.

I'm not a huge fan of beetroot but I do love a side salad of beetroot, carrot, red onion and red peppers or chilli.

I have made it with fresh beetroot just boiled with quite a lot of balsamic vinegar in the dressing, but often use pickled beetroot. All the veg should be chopped into little cubes. The carrot should be blanched, but not overcooked, so it still retains some bite. When it is mixed with the beetroot and dressing it goes a lovely crimson colour.

I have frozen this salad for future use and when defrosted it is great with a variety of cold meats, fish, flans, vegetarian dishes or as part of a cold buffet. A little goes a long way.

grandtante absolutely agree with you! My least favourite meal.

I make a beetroot, spinach and feta salad with mint and a dressing - fabulous with grilled fish or even steak.

Whoops! Forgot to mention the home-grown basil, parsley and mint too

Had a bit of a day of it but have relaxed now with reading how many people are like me and love beetroot We sowed traditional and golden beetroot recently, as well as salad leaves, spring onions, radishes and peppers to share around the neighbours. The seedlings are doing nicely in the greenhouse at the moment, so will get some planted out this week. Some other neighbours are growing tomatoes and potatoes. I tried three times to get a cucumber going but have given up on that for this year. I also like adding avocado, walnuts, sultanas, raw peas, grated apple or carrots - whatever I have to hand really. Has anyone tried the heritage carrots? They come in various colours such as purple, yellow and white etc. Apparently the Dutch enforced the orange carrot to emphasize their national colour during the reign of William of Orange. Whatever the vegetable I think it all tastes better when it's seasonal and you can preferably pick home-grown.

Forgot to add fresh raw peas & beans or cooked (with a little fresh mint) new potatoes in their jackets

As long as there is no avocado or olives in it I'll eat pretty much any salad - not a fan of any dressings - my better half and a few friends think I'm boring but I like salad stuff 'as is' and have been known to eat it as I pick it! I will sometimes add fruit to salads - bits of apple, cherries and berries, slices of pear or banana (banana & red/green peppers don't go together that well as I found out when eating whilst watching TV and not looking at what was on the fork!) - sometimes I'll do winter salads using white and green cabbage, carrots, red onion, apple. Sometimes I'll add nuts, or crisps, a few raisins or sultanas. Like many of you I love beetroot - I used to work in a greengrocers and would have hot beetroot with other salad stuff for lunch most days (+ pie & chips with it some days from the cafe next door)

Absolutely no favourite salads. I only eat them to be polite and never make them myself.

Yes, I know it's odd, but there's nowt so queer as folk.