Mediterranean Beet and Yogurt Salad

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This recipe for a creamy, garlicy cooked beet salad comes from CSA member Margaret Sutherland, who shares:

“I was looking for a simple-ish but creamy way to bring cold sliced beets in a form other than pickled to a family dinner with, well, eaters who you could say have conservative palates or I would call picky. I found and modified this recipe from Martha Rose Shulman (NY Times)

Since some of the fam are not fond of strong garlic flavour (unlike me), olive oil is too out-there for them and Greek yogurt is termed “interesting”, I modified the dressing by substituting a heaping Tb of mayonnaise for half the olive oil and using less than one clove of garlic. I was also short on time so I just mixed the whole shebang together to come up with what you can see is a very beet-ily magenta dish. Next time I’ll do like Martha (the other picture) and save the yogurt dressing to elegantly drape over the top of the beets with a carefully curated sprinkle of dill and whatever else is in that picture – chopped cashews? Sounds good to me. Either way it is delicious and was enjoyed by all (phew!).”

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Mediterranean Beet and Yogurt Salad

Ingredients

  • 4 medium size beets roasted (to end up with around 2 cups or so of sliced beets)
  • 1½ tablespoons sherry vinegar white wine vinegar, or cider vinegar
  • 1 teaspoon sugar
  • 2 tablespoons olive oil
  • 1 to 2 cloves garlic to taste
  • ½ cup thick Greek style yogurt or drained yogurt
  • 2 tablespoons minced dill
  • Salt and freshly ground pepper to taste

Instructions

Roast and Marinade the Beets

  1. Roast the beets, peel, and cut in wedges or slice into half-moons.

  2. Stir together the vinegar, sugar, olive oil, and salt and pepper to taste. Toss with the warm beets and allow to marinate for 2 to 3 hours at room temperature or in the refrigerator.

Make the Yogurt Dressing

  1. Place the garlic in a mortar and pestle, add ⅛ teaspoon salt, and mash to a paste. Stir into the yogurt in a small bowl. (OR grate the garlic on a fine microplane style grater and add with the salt to yogurt). Stir in half the dill. Add salt and pepper to taste.

  2. Drain the beets and stir some of the marinade into the yogurt (to taste).

  3. Toss yogurt with the beets, or arrange the beets on a platter and drizzle the yogurt over the top. Sprinkle on the remaining dill, and serve.