Beet and carrot salad {mustard garlic vinaigrette + dill}

Beet and carrot salad with mustard garlic vinaigrette – boiled root veggies, tangy pickles and lots of fresh dill drizzled with a lovely mustard garlic dressing – a fantastic winter salad that’s easy on the calories, yet filling and satisfying.

Well hello there, and a happy new 2017 to you!!

I hope this week goes easy on you (it’s a short week – phew!) and it’ll be over before we know it, so hang in there.  I know it’s hard to come back to the daily grind after the holidays, although I must admit, part of me wanted to get back to structure and discipline again.  I certainly hope I’ll resume my normal healthy eating habits as quickly as possible, as I feel I’ve abused my body way too long these past few months.

So starting off the New Year on the right foot, today I wanted to share with you a healthy, seasonal salad of boiled root vegetables with a simple garlic mustard vinaigrette dressing.

This is an old family recipe, that my grandma used to prepare for the winter holidays.  My grandma would make it with a lot more potatoes, as is traditionally done, but here I almost completely skip them, except for a few small blue potatoes (not the sweet variety), mainly for color.  I wanted to keep it light without sacrificing the flavor, and I think potatoes don’t really contribute to the flavor in this recipe, anyways.

It’s a simple, colorful chopped salad of boiled beets, carrots, potatoes, and pickles, drizzled with a lovely garlicky mustard dressing, and lots of fresh dill.  So it’s a sweet & sour, garlicky & mustardy combination of flavors that will really delight and satisfy all your taste buds.

If you want to preserve the colors of the carrots and potatoes somewhat intact, boil them separately from the beets, or else everything will take on a magenta hue.  Both carrots and beets are minimal in calories so all in all, it’s a light, yet a filling salad.  It keeps well for a few days in the fridge, but I think it tastes best right after making, when the vegetables are still slightly warm.

And if you want to make it even healthier, add some protein with a chopped boiled egg or two, and skip the potatoes completely!

Here’s to a healthy start of 2017!

Before I go, here are a few other beet salads, if you’re in the mood:

Everyone’s favorite: Roasted beets with caramelized garlic, walnuts and goat cheese
My personal favorite: Roasted beets & charred onion salad with rosemary, pine nuts and pecorino cheese
Roasted beets pomegranate and kaniwa salad with corn, avocado, and cilantro – probably one of the cleanest, and healthiest salads on the blog

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Beet and carrot salad {mustard garlic vinaigrette + dill}

Prep Time

15 mins

Cook Time

40 mins

Total Time

55 mins

 

Beet and carrot salad with mustard garlic vinaigrette - boiled root veggies, crunchy pickles and lots of fresh dill drizzled with a lovely mustard garlic dressing - a fantastic winter salad that's easy on the calories, yet filling and satisfying.

Course: Salad

Servings: 8 -10

Calories: 141 kcal

Author: Viktoria

Ingredients

• 1 lbs beets
• 1 lbs carrots
• 1/2 lbs dill pickles about 10 medium ones
• 3-4 small blue potatoes a.k.a Peruvian, not the sweet purple variety, or other regular potatoes of choice
• 4 Tbs chopped dill
• salt and pepper
• Dressing:
• 1 tsp mustard
• 4 Tbs olive oil
• 1 Tbs vinegar
• 2 garlic cloves

Instructions

1. Scrub the beets clean, cut in halves, and boil in water for about 40-45 minutes, or until fully cooked.
2. Peel the carrots, chop into 2-3 pieces each, and add them in a separate pan with water. Bring to a boil and cook for 30-35 minutes, or until soft.
3. Boil the unpeeled potatoes in a pot of salted water until tender.
4. Once all the veggies are cooked, peel the potatoes and beets, and chop each vegetable into a small, equal size dice (about 1 cm).
5. Chop the pickles, trying to retain the same size as the rest of the vegetables.
6. Mix the smashed garlic cloves with the mustard, vinegar, and slowly add the olive oil until you get a creamy dressing,
7. Drizzle the vinaigrette over the warm vegetables, and mix lightly.
8. Add salt, pepper, and lots of fresh dill. Taste and adjust the seasoning if needed.