Raw beetroot and carrot grated fine, mixed with boiled egg, onion and mayonnaise. Nothing is cooked except the eggs, and the whole thing takes twenty minutes.
It turns bright pink the moment you stir it, and there is no way around that.
Start the eggs first
The recipe as written grates the vegetables in step one and boils the eggs in step two, which leaves the grated beetroot sitting in a bowl for a quarter of an hour going dull at the edges.
Put the eggs on before you touch anything else. Everything else in this salad takes less time than they do.
Everything turns pink
Beetroot bleeds. As soon as it meets the mayonnaise the whole bowl goes from white to bright fuchsia, and that is simply what this salad looks like.
It also stains hands, chopping boards and cloth. Grate the beetroot last, rinse the board immediately, and do not wear anything you care about. The colour on your hands fades in a day.
Raw, not cooked
This is worth saying because most beetroot salads elsewhere use boiled or roasted beetroot. Here it goes in raw and grated, which keeps it crunchy and tastes noticeably earthier and sharper than the cooked version.
Grate it fine. Coarse shreds of raw beetroot are hard work to eat and never soften, since nothing in this recipe cooks them.
The mayonnaise, a spoonful at a time
Add it gradually and stop when everything is just coated. Beetroot and carrot both release water as they sit, so a salad that looks correctly dressed when you make it will be looser an hour later.
For the same reason it does not keep past a day. Make it, chill it for an hour so the flavours settle, and eat it.
More salads
- Carrot salad — the same idea without the staining.
- Ensalada rusa — potato, and the other mayonnaise salad.
- Avocado salad — how Colombia eats avocado.
- Egg and potato salad — for the boiled eggs.
Beet Salad FAQ
Raw and grated fine. That is what makes this different from most beetroot salads, which use boiled or roasted beetroot. Raw beetroot stays crunchy and tastes sharper and earthier. Grate it fine, because nothing in the recipe will soften it later.
You do not entirely. Beetroot bleeds into the mayonnaise and the salad turns bright pink, which is how it is meant to look. Grate the beetroot last, rinse the board straight away, and the colour on your hands fades within a day.
Fifteen minutes as written, which is longer than needed and causes the grey-green ring around the yolk. Ten minutes followed by cold water avoids it. The ring is harmless either way.
Add it a spoonful at a time until everything is just coated. Both vegetables release water as they sit, so a salad that looks right when you make it will be looser an hour later.
An hour ahead is ideal, chilled, so the flavours settle. Beyond a day it goes watery as the vegetables release liquid.
📖 Recipe
Ingredients
- 3 carrots (grated raw)
- 3 beets (grated raw; they will stain your hands and the bowl)
- 2 eggs, boiled (start these first: everything else waits on them)
- ½ onion, chopped
- Mayonnaise (enough to bind, added a spoonful at a time)
- Salt, to taste
- Cilantro, optional
Notas
Instructions
- Put the eggs on to boil first, since everything else waits on them. Fifteen minutes in enough water to cover, then leave them to cool.
- Meanwhile, grate the carrot and the beetroot and put them in a bowl.
- Chop the onion and add it to the bowl.
- Peel the cooled eggs, dice them and add them in.
- Add the mayonnaise a spoonful at a time, check the salt, and stir until everything comes together. Add cilantro if you want it.
Comments
No Comments