With warmer temps and beautiful blue skies (except in the morning, always gray this time of year), I tend to enjoy lighter dishes, like this delicious salad. While beets are probably the freshest in the Fall, you can really find them year-round, and they taste great.
Sure, they stain your fingers and almost anything they touch a pretty pink color, but I don’t mind. Nope, I love them. Particularly when they are roasted. They get such a yummy caramelized flavor that can’t be beat. Add some salty feta and it becomes a salad to remember, even if you can’t pronounce tabbouleh. 🙂
Tabbouleh is a traditional Middle Eastern salad with parsley, bulgur, tomatoes and a bright lemony dressing. This version adds beets and feta, making it a bit more robust. Bulgur isn’t something I stock in my kitchen, so I wanted to buy it in bulk to ensure it didn’t go to waste. Unfortunately, my usual place didn’t carry bulgur in bulk, but Trader Joes sells a small package for $1.50. Huge Score!
The salad is delicious and keeps well. I ate a huge helping for lunch and leftovers the next day were even better. You could also add a nice pice of grilled chicken or salmon to round out the meal for the carnivores in your life too.
Beet and Feta Tabbouleh or Salad
Ingredients
- 4 large beets
- 1 small red onion finely chopped
- 1/4 cup red wine vinegar
- 1 cup cooked bulgur wheat
- 4 oz feta cheese cubed
- 2 bunches Italian parsley finely chopped
- 3 tbsp lemon juice freshly squeezed
- 2 tbsp extra-virgin olive oil
- 2 tsp balsamic vinegar
- salt and pepper to taste
Instructions
- Rinse beets and remove the top and bottom, so it can sit flat on either side. Place on a piece of heavy duty aluminum foil and drizzle olive oil on top. Rub it in to fully coat each beet. Sprinkle with salt. Wrap in foil, place on a cookie sheet and roast in a 350 degree oven for 1 hour. Depending on the size of your beets, it could take longer. When tender, remove beets from oven and set aside to cool. When cool, gently pull or rub the skins off the beets. Cut beets into bite-sized cubes and set aside. You can do this in advance and store the beets until you’re ready to make the salad.
- Combine red onion and vinegar in a bowl and soak for 10 minutes. Drain and discard vinegar, returning onions to the bowl. This is done to mute the strong onion taste.
- In a small bowl, mix together the lemon juice, olive oil and balsamic vinegar. Set aside.
- Add bulgur, feta, parsley and dressing to the onions and stir together. Salt and pepper to taste. Add the beets and gently toss. The beets will color the feta, so be mindful of this from a presentation aspect, but it definitely does not affect the taste. Serve immediately.
Enjoy!
Tanya