Beetroot Salad

This Beetroot Salad recipe is part of a series of recipes from the Cretan Diet on the Greek Island of Crete. As with all the ingredients that make up recipes from the Cretan Diet, the Beetroot Salad recipe is very simple, tasty and nutritious.

All the ingredients for Cretan Diet recipes are locally sourced, entirely natural without artificial additives or preservatives. The traditional simple ways of combining ingredients, cooking and serving are the key to tasty food packed with goodness, flavour and taste.

This simple recipe is stunning in taste and appearance! Raw garlic gives it a bite which complements the sweet beetroot flavour perfectly.

Ingredients for Cretan Beetroot Salad

1 kilo of beetroots
3/4 garlic cloves, crushed
300 grams of Greek yoghurt
50 grams of walnuts
roughly chopped
8 tbsp olive oil
salt, 3 tbsp vinegar

Method

Trim the beetroots if you need to, leaving about an inch of stalks so you can handle them without getting red fingers! Boil whole for about 20 to 30 minutes depending on size. When cooked, let cool and then peel. It's best to put your hands in some food bags or wear plastic gloves when you do this!

When peeled, dice them and place in a bowl.

In another bowl, place all the other ingredients and mix well. Pour over the beetroots and stir well to combine all the ingredients. Cover and let the salad rest in the refrigerator for an hour or two before serving.

How to Follow the Cretan Diet

We are going to help you eat like they do in Crete. This will open up for you a whole new world of tasty, healthy eating and Cretan cooking that will improve your well-being and even prolong your life. (Be sure to drive carefully and stop smoking to reap the benefits of a longer lifespan!)

These are the basic rules for the Cretan Diet:

Use olive oil as the principal fat, replacing all other fats and oils for frying and dressings
Drink a moderate amount of wine, normally with an evening meal; about one to two glasses per day for men and one glass per day for women
Eat plenty of fresh fruit as a typical daily dessert; limit sweets with a significant amount of sugar and saturated fat
Include in your diet lots of food from plant sources, including fruits and vegetables, breads and grains, beans, nuts, and seeds
Eat low to moderate amounts of cheese and yoghurt daily
Consume low to moderate amounts of fish and poultry weekly; and limit eggs to a maximum of four per week
Include red meat rarely perhaps just once per week