Hello, from your 2024 dietetic interns! We are featuring our second Pick Your Own (PYO) meal which is a ‘Whole’ Beet & Blueberry Salad. ‘Whole’ beet refers to using the entire beet in the recipe, from the leaves, to the stalks, and all the way down to the beetroot itself. Did you know that the beet leaves contain more fibre, calcium, and iron per gram than the beetroot?!
Ingredients ready to go!
As dietetic interns, it’s important for us to create recipes that involve minimal waste, as food waste is increasing in Canada. Research from this article shows that in London, Ontario it was estimated that households disposed up to approximately 3.0 kg of food waste each week or about 150 kg annually. That’s a lot of food getting thrown out! Food waste has negative social, financial, and environmental impacts, and the more aware we can be the better.
Please tag us on Instagram (@thamesrivermelons) if you try this recipe!
Every mouthful of this dish provides a different experience. The blueberries and candied walnuts provide a slight sweetness, the beets add a woody, neutral flavour, while the goat cheese adds creaminess and tang. This salad would pair beautifully with a gourmet burger or steak. Here at the farm, we have our own herd of Black Angus cattle, and we sell ground beef, burgers, and steak in our farm shop. The best part is, this recipe uses almost exclusively ingredients from our farm! Right now, our PYO patch is full of beets and blueberries for picking.
*Serves 5-6
Ingredients
Salad
7 small Thames River Melons beets, washed and cubed
4-5 cups of roughly chopped beet greens and stalks
1 ½ cups of Thames River Melons blueberries, washed
1 Thames River Melons mini cucumber, quartered and sliced
140g goat cheese, plain
10 Thames River Melons basil leaves
1 tbsp olive oil
Candied Walnuts
½ cup walnuts
1 tbsp butter
1 tbsp Thames River Melons honey
Dressing
⅓ cup olive oil
2 tbsp Thames River Melons honey
2 tbsp Thames River Melons blueberry jam
1 lemon, juiced
Salt and pepper to taste
Instructions
1. Preheat the oven to 400°F
2. Separate beets from greens, and soak beet greens in cold water.
*Optional step: separate stems from the leaves and cut them into small rounds to add to salad (similar to celery)
3. Wash and dice beets into 1/2 x 1/2 inch cubes and place on a baking sheet, drizzle with olive oil, salt & pepper, and mix. Place in the preheated oven for 25 minutes or until fork tender
4. Next, candy the walnuts by adding honey and melted butter to a bowl and toss the walnuts. Place walnuts on a baking sheet and bake in the oven for 5 minutes (last 5 minutes that beets are cooking)
5. Meanwhile, drain beet greens and rinse. Cut beet greens (leaving the stem) into bite sized pieces, and place into a bowl
6. Cut cucumber and place on top of beet greens.
7. For the dressing, add olive oil, honey, jam, and lemon juice to a jar and shake or whisk for 1-2 minutes or until everything is mixed together.
8. Remove the beets and walnuts from the oven.
9. To assemble the salad, start by adding half the salad dressing to the bowl and toss the beet greens in it. Add the cucumber, beets, walnuts, and chopped basil.
10. Top with crumbled goat cheese, drizzle the rest of the dressing over the salad, add salt and pepper to your taste, and enjoy!
Enjoy!
Cost
In total, the cost of the PYO vegetables and fruit for this salad was $4.66.
PYO blueberries are $4.25/lb and PYO beets/beet greens and cucumbers are $1/lb.
This recipe calls for approximately 1/2 lb of blueberries, 2 lbs of beets plus greens, and 0.32lbs of cucumbers.
Nutritional Density
100g of blueberries provides 2.6 grams of fibre and 9.7 milligrams of vitamin C (1).
100g of raw beets contains 1.9g of fibre, 16 mg of calcium, 0.80 mg of iron. (1)
100g of raw beet greens contains 3.7 g of fibre, 117 mg of calcium, and 2.57mg of iron (1).
100g of walnuts provides 6.7 g of fibre, 2.91 g of iron, and an abundance of electrolyte minerals (1).
Did you know dark leafy greens are rich in calcium? Calcium is a mineral that is essential for building strong bones.
Beets and beet greens are also rich in iron. Iron helps your body create blood cells and carries oxygen throughout the body.
Per serving, this salad contains approximately 4g of fibre, which is 16% of an adult female's daily fibre needs and 11% of an adult male's daily fibre needs.
Storage
This salad will keep in the fridge for 4 days. If planning to make ahead, we recommend keeping the beet greens separate and adding at time of consumption.
The dressing will keep for 5-7 days in an airtight container in the fridge.
Waste Less Notes
You may not use all of the beet greens. The remainder of the beet greens can be used to make another salad or they are lovely sautéed with butter as a side dish.
Modifications
This recipe may be modified to suit your needs. You may substitute beet greens for kale, spinach or other greens you have on hand. As far as fruit and fruit jams, you may substitute the blueberries for peaches or strawberries, and peach/strawberry jam. The nuts can be switched out for pecans or if you are nut free, pumpkin seeds. Get creative!
Recipe developed and photographed by dietetic interns Lexie Nobbs and Lise Wolyniuk and reviewed by Alex Chesney, RD
Reference
Health Canada. (2023). Canadian Nutrient File. Government of Canada. Retrieved July 17, 2024, from https://food-nutrition.canada.ca/cnf-fce/newSearch.