Beet Salad with Creamy Feta Dressing

Beet Salad with Green Onions, and Dill in a Creamy Feta-Garlic Dressing

Makes: 6 side-dish servings
Chef level: Easy

For the Salad:

Ingredients:

• 4 med-large red beets, scrubbed
• 2 large green onions, sliced on the bias
• Handful of fresh dill, roughly chopped
• 1/3 cup pistachios, shelled and toasted
• Feta dressing

How to Make It: 

1. Place beets in a large sauce pot and cover with water. Bring to a boil.
2. Add a handful of salt and a splash of apple cider vinegar to the boiling water and cook beets until soft, but still firm, about 20 minutes depending on size.
3. Remove from water and allow to cool. When cool enough to handle, peel and chop.
4. Spread the feta dressing on a serving platter. Scatter the beets over the dressing. Scatter the onions over the beets, the dill over the onions, and the pistachios over everything. Serve.

For the Dressing:

Ingredients:

• 200g feta in brine
• 2 Tbsp thick sour cream
• ¼ c heavy cream (more as needed)
• 1 Tbsp garlic oil
• 4-5 confit garlic cloves (recipe here)
• Handful of fresh dill
• Fresh black pepper, to taste

How to Make It:

1. Into a high-speed blender crumble feta, pour in heavy cream, oil, sour cream and add garlic cloves.
2. Whirl until smooth and creamy, adding more cream, a splash at a time, if necessary.
3. Once smoothy, creamy, and pourable but still thick, stir in a few cranks of fresh black pepper and a lot of dill. (I do this after blending, by hand, so the dressing stays white.)
4. Serve as a salad dressing, veggie and chip dip, or as a spread for turkey burgers.

Wine Pairing: 

This is such a flavourful salad, with the tangy feta, herby dill and sweet, earthy beets, so you want something that can play nicely with the lot. Surprisingly, there's a number of options from which to choose, so you can pick your favourite. Riesling, Sauvignon Blanc, Pinot Gris, Gamay and Pinot Noir, all have the fresh acidity to work with the bright dressing, and the savoury flavour to go with the vegetables and herbs.