Greek Beetroot Salad (Patzarosalata)

Say hello to the beetroot salad I’ve been making on repeat since the spring, and which I’m pretty sure will never be knocked off of it’s pedestal of my favourite beetroot salad: this Mediterranean Greek Rainbow Beetroot Salad (Patzarosalata) made with Greek yogurt, date molasses, and plenty of fresh herbs!

Sure you can make it with just regular beetroot and save yourself the extra pan, but I think it’s such a striking dish to bring to the table when you’re entertaining I think unless you grow your own and only grow one variety, it is worth the extra effort to get beautiful golden as well as blushing purple nuggets of earthy goodness tossed in a tangy-date sweetened dressing, swirled with some Greek-style yogurt and drowned in fresh herbs.

Not only do I like this salad because it looks amazing and tastes even better, but it yields fantastic leftovers too. Perhaps with the exception of a tub of my leftover Hummus, Tomato & Sumac Salad for scooping with crackers before dinner, this beetroot salad is my favourite thing to have as a leftover to serve on the side of all of my summer meals in my fridge this year.

Beetroot Cooking Times

If you are buying beetroot from the supermarket or from a farm shop, you might need to cook the beetroot for up to 45 minutes (for larger pieces) to make them fork-tender, but I’ve found small, home-grown, just-pulled beetroot can cook in as little as 15 minutes, so keep a close eye on the pan to make sure they don’t turn to mush!

I’ve adapted this salad from Marianna Leivaditaki’s brilliant book Aegean^ad, which I’ve already made so many dishes from in the past year. You’ll recognise this Greek Potato Gratin – and I can’t wait to make more dishes from it this summer. As far as what I’ve done to adapt this salad, honestly as well as cutting it down a bit (I love the leftovers, but I am the only one in the house who likes beetroot, and when I do serve it up to guests it is usually part of a much larger spread – actually last time alongside that potato gratin, this Greek salad and grilled lamb or mutton chops) I’ve made it a little easier, and made the yogurt a lot more flexible. But trust me, it is still delicious.

Choosing Your Yogurt

About the yogurt: obviously as the original recipe comes from a Greek cookbook it calls for strained Greek yogurt, but the yogurt I think most of us (certainly I) keep in our fridges is a bit looser. So, here I’ve called for Greek-style which tends to be a bit looser than traditional Greek yogurt (I buy Yeo Valley brand) but you can use any thick, but not strained thick yogurt here – you’re after adding creaminess and tang without adding too much extra liquid.

Date Molasses

Similar to Pomegranate Molasses, Date Molasses is a syrup made from pressing dates then cooking down the resulting juice into a thick syrup. It is quite unique in flavour so doesn’t have a good substitute (though if you can’t find it you could use pomegranate here, the resulting salad would just be a lot fruitier and lose a lot of it’s savoury elements – it sounds counterintuitive when it is a sugar, but it has savoury notes so when added to dishes those often shine through). I prefer Odysea Date Molasses^ad (originally gifted to me but purchased many times since!) and once you have a bottle you’ll also be able to make my Whipped Feta with Beetroot, Dill and Pistachios, and these Sweet Potato Wedges with Almond Tahini.

Frequently Asked Questions

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Greek-style Rainbow Beetroot Salad

• Author: Rachel Phipps
• Prep Time: 15 minutes
• Cook Time: 30 minutes
• Total Time: 45 minutes (plus cooling time)
• Yield: Serves 2-4 1x
• Category: Salad
• Cuisine: Greek
• Diet: Vegetarian

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Description

This easy Greek-style Rainbow Beetroot Salad is the perfect way to serve cooked beetroot as part of a Mediterranean-style spread – it also yields delicious leftovers!

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Ingredients

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• 2 mixed medium beetroot
• sea salt
• 1 tbsp date molasses
• 1 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
• 1 tbsp red wine vinegar
• 1 small garlic clove
• 2 spoonfuls Greek-style yogurt
• small handful fresh mint
• small handful fresh dill

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Instructions

1. Halve the beetroot and cook in a pan of boiling salted water until fork tender, this usually takes 30 minutes. If you’re using different colours of beetroot, keep the traditional purple beets in a different pan from the other beetroot (or the rest if you’re scaling this recipe up) as they will dye everything else purple!
2. Meanwhile, to make the dressing whisk together the date molasses, olive oil, vinegar, the garlic clove – finely grated –  and another good pinch of salt.
3. Once the cooked beetroot are just cool enough to touch carefully peel off the skins – again, for purple beets wear gloves to stop you staining your fingers! Slice into just bigger than bite-sized wedges.
4. Keeping the purple beetroot in a separate bowl, divide the dressing between the beetroot and toss. Leave to cool completely in the dressing.
5. Add a spoonful of yogurt to each portion of beetroot, just folding in so swirls of plain yogurt remain visible.
6. Spoon the different dressed beets onto a serving dish and scatter generously with fresh herbs before serving. 

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