Healthy Greek Beet Salad with Aioli & Walnuts (Patzaria me Skordalia kai Karydia)

Hello everyone…I would just like to take a few minutes to say something that upset me  a bit yesterday.  The photo of the salad I have posted does not do justice for how it actually looked when I took the picture.  Yesterday, I posted this on Instagram, and I receive a not so very nice message about my photo, which I do understand not everyone needs to like what I do and that is completely understandable.  I myself sometimes see things that discourage me a bit, but the difference is that I would never intentionally or unintentionally go out of my way and hurt someone because I am not that kind of a person.  I just don’t like hurting anyone’s feelings at all.

I am not a professional food photographer nor a food stylist, I am a simple human being who is trying to find my way on this planet after having life throw so many very difficult things at me.  I do my best with what I have which is a small camera and a few things that I have  in my home that I can use for styling prompts, and my brain that tries to come up with styling ideas. After a few years of trying to find a job and not able too, I turned to cooking which is a passion of mine because this is truly what I love to do, and this is why I decided to become a full time food blogger and I am trying to do better day by day and I am very happy with the choice I have made.  Please accept my apologise I just needed to get it out there. 🙂

So, back to this lovely salad,  I was given quite a few beets the other day, and Mangos too so I will be posting a Mango smoothie next time…hahaha just so you know.  From what I know Beets are usually sold with the green stems in Greece, and in other countries but here in NL they cut off the stems and sell them separately, I have no idea why but this is how I have seen them.  I did go into the fruit and vegetable market and asked the lady who owned the store and she really had no response to why they cut them off.  So, I just left it at that and went on my way.  

In Greece Beets are boiled and then served cold with either lemon juice or White Vinegar, and since the weather happens to be too nice for something hot, I preferred to make this salad.  My version is a bit more modern than the Greek recipe, I added Spinach, Rucola, and a few other lovely ingredients and of course Olive Oil. 🙂

Ingredients:

4 Beets (boiled, sliced or chopped into cubes)

1 cup Spinach

1/2 cup Rucola

1/4 cup Parsley

2 tablespoons Aioli 

1/2 cup Walnuts (chopped)

Olive Oil

Lemon 

Preparation:

The Beets that were given to me were already boiled. So, if your going to buy fresh Beets, cut off the skin before boiling.  Place into sauce pan and cover with just enough water and add a bit of salt.

In a plate or bowl add Spinach that has been washed throughly and drained.

Continue by adding the Rucola, and Parsley

Add a layer of the sliced or cubed Beets.

Top with the Aioli. (I usually make my own Aioli otherwise known in Greek as Skordalia which I have already planned to post in the next few weeks, but ready made Aioli works just fine).  

Top with Walnuts, Drizzle Olive Oil, White Vinegar or Lemon Juice and enjoy.

Kali Orexi!! 🙂