My friend Sheryl loves beets so I prepared some last time she came over. In a daring mood, I tried a pairing I had never seen or heard of before, beets with Asian pear. Hooray, it was a fabulous discovery and will forever be in my repertoire. I worked on a recipe and came up with a unique, refreshing, and eye-catching salad.

In this recipe, I microwave beets, which I had no idea I could do until seeing it in “Vegetables” by James Peterson. It’s a huge time saver!

Beet Salad no feta

Asian Pear Beet Salad

Dressing

  • 4 teaspoons fresh lemon juice
  • 1 teaspoon lemon zest
  • 1 teaspoon strong honey
  • 1 tablespoon olive oil

Salad

  • 1 beet
  • 1 Asian pear, peeled and cored
  • 10 basil leaves, chiffonade
  • 2″ cube of feta (optional)
  • salt and pepper to taste

1. Microwave the beet in a covered microwave safe container for 2 minutes. Let stand, still covered for 2 minutes. Turn over and microwave again for 2 minutes. Let stand again for 10 minutes. It is ready if it is easily pierced with a pairing knife. Peel as soon as it is cool enough for your fingers.
2. Chop beets and Asian pears into equal sized cubes.
3. Whisk together dressing ingredients. Toss beets and pears with dressing. Mix in basil and refrigerate until serving.
4. Crumble feta on top right before serving. If you don’t like feta, don’t use it. It’ll still be good and pretty.

Asian Pear Beet Salad with Feta

Update 8/7/08: I just entered this recipe into the Beat The Heat contest at A Southern Grace!

posted by jessica at 10:39 AM Filed under Fusion, Recipes. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Both comments and pings are currently closed.