Beet and Avocado Salad with Feta Cheese and Basil

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Combining beets with avocado in the same salad recipe would never have occurred to this healthy home cook.

That is until I discovered The Flavor Bible. I happened upon this handy tool for the kitchen a few weeks ago, and I’ve been using it ever since. 

Amazon’s describes this book as “The Essential Guide to Culinary Creativity, Based on the Wisdom of America’s Most Imaginative Chefs,”  and I completely agree.

Home cooks love to be inventive in the kitchen, but it’s easy to get into a cooking rut. I often find myself using the same combination of ingredients over and over again.

The Flavor Bible takes a food like beets and tells you the season it can be found and methods of cooking. Then you can find the foods, spices and herbs that complement it best.

To make this healthy salad I looked up beets in the book to find a list of complementing ingredients, then headed off to the store with my grocery list in hand.

When it was time to create my masterpiece, I layered roasted beets, sliced avocado, slivers of spicy red onion, and fresh basil on a platter. After a drizzle of olive oil and lemon juice to add brightness, I topped the works with a crumble of salty feta cheese and a grind of pepper.

The flavors of my beet salad harmonized perfectly thanks to my new kitchen Bible!

I have the electronic version, but I purchased the hardcover for Grandma Karen. After thumbing through the book and feeling it in my hands, you can be sure it’s on my gift list. (Hint, hint Mr. Mike!).

Print Beet and Avocado Salad with Feta Cheese and Basil

Serving Size: 2

Shake It Up! If beets aren't your thing, you could replace the beets with sliced zucchini or cucumbers.

Ingredients

• 4 small roasted beets, sliced
• ½ medium avocado, sliced
• 5 leaves basil, thinly sliced (Chiffonade)
• ¼ small red onion, thinly sliced
• 4 tablespoons low fat feta cheese, crumbled
• ½ tablespoon olive oil
• 1 sqeeze lemon juice
• salt and pepper, to taste

Instructions

1. Preheat the oven to 450 degrees. Place whole and unpeeled beets in a foil packet in a single layer. Roast in the oven for 1 - 1 /12 hours until just tender. You don't want mushy beets. When beets are cooled, peel off skin with your hands and slice.
2. Layer beets, onion, basil and avocado on a plate. Sprinkle with feta cheese. Drizzle with lemon juice and olive oil. Season with salt and pepper.

Notes

Food energy: 193kcal Saturated fatty acids: 4.02g Monounsaturated fatty acids: 6.70g Polyunsaturated fatty acids: 1.15g Total fat: 11.87g Calories from fat: 106 Cholesterol: 16mg Carbohydrate, by difference: 17.02g Total dietary fiber: 4.71g Protein: 5.39g Total lipid (fat): 12.83g Water: 163.63g Ash: 2.82g Total sugars: 10.98g Calcium: 122mg Iron: 1.29mg Magnesium: 40mg Phosphorus: 130mg Potassium: 544mg Sodium: 291mg

2.5http://motherrimmy.com/recipe-beet-and-avocado-salad-with-feta-cheese-and-basil/Mother Rimmy�s Cooking Light Done Right by Kristin A. Rimkus is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-No Derivative Works 3.0 United States License.

If you’re a beet lover, this salad with beets and grapes in a walnut vinaigrette makes a refreshing summer side dish for your next grilling adventure. It’s another combination of ingredients I wouldn’t have thought to toss into a salad bowl, but we thoroughly enjoyed the mix of orange and red beets with sweet apples and red grapes.

Have a terrific week everyone and if you get a chance be sure and pick up The Flavor Bible. You won’t be disappointed.

~Kristi

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Last updated by Kristi Rimkus at July 14, 2014.