Beet & feta salad


Heart beet

My intuition says I need to spend more energy on my heart chakra, or, if you like, compassionately nurturing myself. I have a tendency to "overbrain" everything through excessive mulling and analysis. A steady summer diet of white wine has not made me any less spacy and "up in the clouds."

So I'm trying some new things to center myself better. Chocolate. Heart Health Emergen-C (those fizzy vitamin packets you mix with water). Raspberries, cherries, hibiscus, anything deep red. Plenty of water to keep that moist electricity pumping. (That's how I think of the heart--compassionate, electric and wet.) Nice aromatherapy like lavender and rose. And when I saw a gorgeous trio of beets at the farmer's market on Saturday, I felt they would be another great heart nurturer. A boiled beet even looks a little like a heart, red, fist-shaped and leaky on the plate. It also has good grounding energy--being a root and being such a deep dark color. So I decided to treat myself to a cold Beet & Feta salad for lunch today.

Ingredients
  • 3 beets, boiled and chilled, with skins slipped off
  • 2 T feta cheese, crumbled
  • 1 T capers
  • 1 T apple cider vinegar
  • 1 T hempseed oil
  • salt & pepper
Assembly
Slice beets as thick or thin as you like. Sprinkle with feta, capers, vinegar and oil. EAT! (On an August day, try to have all the ingredients be as coooold as possible.)



Beets have a nice smooth chewy-tender texture to them, and I liked the salty sass of the feta and capers in among the sweet docile beets. The hempseed oil, a big splurge at $20 for 16.9 ounces, is a favorite of mine in small doses. It has a distinctive rich, nutty flavor that really dressed everything up. Hooray for beets!



I'm submitting this to Weekend Herb Blogging #197, which I happen to be hosting this week! This blog event is organized by Haalo of Cook (Almost) Anything At Least Once. If you're interested in joining in (please do!) please check out the rules and send me your entry. The deadline is this coming Sunday, August 23.

3 comments:

Unknown said...

I love beets & feta - an awesome combination. While you're probably better off NOT turning on your oven in this heat - when the weather cools down, you might like to try roasted beets. They're soooo good! (Wrap in foil & roast at 425 for about 40-45 minutes. Let cool & remove skins. Couldn't be easier!)

Jerry said...

The salad looks delicious. Over the past year I have come tor eally enjoy beet salads. I posted a similar one a few weeks ago with a Greek cheese. It was amazing.
http://jdeq.typepad.com/jerrys_thoughts_musings_a/2009/07/beet-and-arugula-salad-with-kefalotyri.html

"Prof. Kitty" said...

Thanks VW & Jerry for these beet recommendations! The beets in foil does sound super easy, and will be a perfect way to heat the kitchen when fall comes! (Before I want to turn on the furnace, but after it gets COLD.) And always good to find out how to use exotic Greek cheeses Jerry.

Keep the beet goin'!