This is a full flavored salad that is perfect with a side dish of wild rice. The mix of sweet and sour and add the slight smoky taste of grilled peaches and red onions makes it delectable to say the least. It is a bit of work, but quick to put together in the end and well worth the effort. It seems that Sawsan Chef in disguise and I had the same thoughts in a salad but put together with different blends of flavors, hers looks delicious… take a peek!
Ingredients:
- 2 medium red beets, trimmed
- ½ cup of red wine vinegar
- Pinch of sea salt
- Cold water to cover
In a sauce pan combine the beets, vinegar, salt and enough cold water to cover the beets by several inches and bring to boil. Reduce the heat and cook until tender, around 30 to 40 minutes depending on size of beets. Once the beets have cooled in the cooking liquid you can peel or slip off the outer skin and then slice into ¼ inch slices.
Wash the chard well in a sink full of cold water, I do this two times. On the larger leaves that have large ribs, I separate and remove the large rib. Slice the leaves in thin strips. Mince a couple of cloves of garlic. Put olive oil (I fried some pancetta in the pan and am using the oil from that.) in fry pan and once heated start adding chard as it cooks down some add some more until you have it all in the pan. Once all the chard is in pan sprinkle the garlic on and stir in, I cook the chard stirring occasionally until it is very tender. This takes only takes a few minutes.
Peal a red onion and slice into ¼ inch slices and mist each side with olive oil. (I try to have the onions, beets and peaches about the same size.) Halve the peaches and mist the peach halves with olive oil. Heat your grill and grill onions on both sides until you have grill marks. Add additional oil to grill to grill the peaches, be careful when you turn to keep them whole. I had a problem with this, turning too soon and not having enough oil on the grill. They were not as pretty but tasted wonderful anyway.
I had some Dill Havarti Cheese that I made little ½ inch cubes for the salad. There are many cheeses that can be used for this salad… pick one of your favorites.
Vinaigrette:
- 2 tablespoons of red wine vinegar
- 1 tablespoon kalamata olive brine
- 1 teaspoon honey
- ½ teaspoon crushed dried oregano
- Pinch of sea salt
- Freshly ground black pepper
- ¼ cup extra-virgin olive oil (I was running low so use just a couple of teaspoons… it seemed fine)
In a small bowl, whisk together vinegar, brine, honey, oregano, salt and pepper. Gradually add oil, whisking to a thin, steady stream until blended.
I arranged the chard, onions, and beets, peach and topped with a slice of pancetta and added the Dill Havarti Cheese cubes. I wish I had started with the wild rice on the bottom… but just topped the salad on top of rice after taking the pictures.
We both loved this salad and will do again. The mix was full of enjoyment and was a dish we relished with each bite….
My mother gave me this recipe and would love to give credit where credit is due… if anyone knows where this recipe came from let me know. I did a lot of adapting from the directions my Mom gave me.
peaches make a salad! In the summer when they and tomatoes peek I put them together in a Caprese salad that brings tears of joy!
They sure do! Your caprese salad sounds… be sure to post when you make and we can all have tears in our eyes! I love salads… we eat a lot of salads!
I love how colorful it is!
That it was and surprisingly it was just as delicious!
Wonderful, I love beetroot! And I like the idea of using the olive brine in the dressing, very clever indeed
Hope you are well RaeDi and that spring is in the air where you are too…
It was a off the shoulder try and very good! One of those nights where what you have on hand is what you eat… pretty good for having an empty refrig! Doing pretty good and love it that spring is here, all the apple trees and plum trees buds are swelling!
That is a new one on me!! Your mother was THE “Mother of necessity”! I have never heard of this one before. I can understand the beets, but not the rest of the ingredients. Come August, I may try it when everything is fresh from the garden! I love all the ingredients, but would never have put them together. Number one….she would have eaten most of the olives before they got into the recipe and used the juice out of guilt!
You are so right! It was one of those nights when we did not want to go to the store and what did we have and when I saw the beets and then remembered the recipe she gave me… this is what we got and it was really delicious! I love olives as much as she and you are right for sure… out of guilt! Sure miss her!
I love it Raedi (I knew I would) and that vinaigrette sounds mouth watering good
A question due to the fact that we don’t get chards easily here, do you think I can replace it with another leafy green?
Your mix was very inviting! You can replace with any greens, if the beets tops are fresh you can use them or spinach the list it long! If I had not had the chard it probably would have been spinach… the beet tops were past using! I am so glad that you liked! We do have a lot of the same tastes and textures!