By NIchole Banducci
I love a good salad. They’re such a great opportunity to cram a bunch of veggies into one meal, while delivering on flavor. Bonus points for a salad that can hold its own at any time of year. This hearty antioxidant salad certainly makes the grade!
To me, each salad needs to have a great balance of ingredients, without overdoing it. Achieving that balance typically means a base (greens or grains), a “hero” veggie, texture, and a savory touch. This salad’s breakdown is as follows:
- Base = parsley
- Hero = beets
- Texture = almonds
- Savory = hemp hearts (nutty) and feta (creamy/salty)
Ingredients
- 8.8 oz beets (I use “Love, Beets,” pre-cooked)
- 2 bunches curly parsley
- 1 cup feta crumbles (I love “Follow Your Heart” vegan feta)
- 2 cups shelled hemp seeds (or hemp hearts)
- ½ cup chopped Marcona almonds (almost any nut would be delicious … pecans, walnuts, cashews)
- Juice of two lemons (about 6 tbsp or ⅓ cup)
- ⅓ cup olive oil
- ½ tsp salt
- ½ tsp pepper
- 1 tsp garlic powder
- ½ tsp mustard powder
Instructions
- Dice beets into 1/2” pieces (note – if you want to keep your cutting board beet-juice-free, dice the beets in the same large bowl where you’ll be mixing the salad.)
- Chop the parsley into pieces smaller than 1/4” (aka “fine chop”)
- Rough-chop the almonds
- Put beets, parsley, and almonds into a large bowl
- Add feta and hemp seeds to the same bowl
- Add lemon juice, olive oil, salt, pepper, garlic powder, and mustard powder to a jar; shake well, and pour over salad in bowl.
- Mix well and serve.
I love this salad with an amber ale! Leftover salad can be stored in the fridge for about three days.
