Golden Beet, Apple, & Hazelnut Salad with a Creamy Horseradish Tahini Dressing
This autumnal salad will have you wishing for summer to be over and done with.
Salads needn’t be the underdressed, overly leafy, wilted salads of yesteryear. This is a leaf-free salad for modern, working people who need to make big batches of food on the weekends that stay fresh in the fridge all week. The first bite of this recipe gave me a thrill that’s hard to describe.
It’s plant-based, vegan, and gluten-free, and if I’m being honest, those things usually don’t particularly matter to me. But, I like to point it out for those who do mind.
Crunchy, refreshing apples are tossed with sweet, earthy golden beets. When the apples marry the beets and take on their golden hue, it results in the most peculiar phenomenon where you don’t always know whether you’re taking a bite of apple or beet. It teases the brain most wonderfully.
Parsley does what parsley does and makes everything better. Vinegared red onions, in their bright pink glory, bring a crisp edge that is much needed to balance the boorish sweetness of the beets.
The horseradish was an inspired moment, if I do say so myself. However, I can’t take all the credit, as Niki Segnit taught me how well horseradish, beet, and apple go together in her book The Flavour Thesaurus. Horseradish has a refreshing bitterness that whacks some of the “garden shed quality” off the beetroot, as Segnit perfectly says.
And the horseradish garlic tahini, well, I wanted something creamy but dairy-free, and tahini has a nutty savoriness that balances the sweetness from the apples and beets.
This salad will have you wishing for summer to be over and done with so that apples will be in season.
Golden Beet, Apple, and Hazelnut Salad with Horseradish Garlic Tahini
Ingredients:
Kosher salt
1 red onion
1/4 cup white distilled vinegar
4 yellow beets
2 apples of your favorite eating variety
½ cup hazelnuts, roughly chopped
1 cup parsley, woody stems removed
1 to 2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
Flakey sea salt and freshly ground black pepper
1/4 cup tahini
2 tablespoons freshly squeezed lemon juice
1 tablespoon honey
1 clove garlic
1 tablespoon freshly grated horseradish, plus more for garnishing
2 tablespoons water, plus more
Instructions:
Set a large pot of water on to boil and salt it heavily with Kosher salt - it should taste as salty as the sea.
Meanwhile, thinly slice one red onion. Toss the onion with 1/4 cup white distilled vinegar and set aside to macerate for about 10 minutes until they soften and turn from purple to bright pink.
Peel four golden beets and chop them into bite-sized chunks roughly one inch in size. Plop the beets into the salted, boiling water and boil continuously for 10-15 minutes or until the beets surrender to your fork.
While the beets are boiling away, core and dice two apples. Set the chopped apples to one side.
Tip: Don’t bother peeling the apples; the peel adds texture and color to the finished dish.
Roughly chop the hazelnuts and lightly toast in 1 tablespoon of extra virgin olive oil in a small, non-stick skillet over medium heat, stirring continuously for about 2 to 3 minutes or until they smell buttery and nutty, and turn golden.
Once the onions are sufficiently pink and vinegared, remove them from the vinegar and add to the apples. Reserve the vinegar for later.
Once the beets are done, drain thoroughly and toss them in with the apples and the drained macerated onions.
Add 1 cup of parsley, with woody stems removed, to the beets, apples, and onions.
Tip: I like to leave about half the parsley leaves whole and roughly chop the other half for a nice variation in texture.
Season everything with roughly 1/2 a tablespoon of flaky sea salt (to start), freshly ground black pepper, and a healthy drizzle of your nicest extra virgin olive oil. Spoon over 1-2 tablespoons of the reserved onion vinegar. Give everything a good toss to combine. Taste to see if it needs more salt, pepper, vinegar, or olive oil.
To make the horseradish garlic tahini dressing, combine 1/4 cup tahini, 2 tablespoons of lemon juice, 1 tablespoon of honey, 1 clove of finely grated garlic, 1 tablespoon freshly grated horseradish, 1 teaspoon Kosher salt, a few twists of cracked black pepper, and 2 tablespoons of water. Whisk vigorously with a fork until creamy and homogenous.
Tip: You may want to add another tablespoon of water to get a thinner texture if that's your thing. Personally, I like it thick and creamy.
For serving, smear a few tablespoons of the tahini dressing on a plate and top with some beet and apple salad. Garnish with toasted hazelnuts, a slight drizzle of extra virgin olive oil, and a smattering of grated horseradish.