Beet Appetizer Salad/Moroccan Beet Salad

Moroccan salads play a big role in Moroccan cuisine, and most families serve them almost daily. Garden-fresh vegetables might be peeled and chopped before being tossed with a vinaigrette, or they might be cooked with spices and olive oil to make dip-like salads. Most salads can be refrigerated for 2-3 days.

Handling of beet has always been a concern for me....I found some helpful tips on how to handle beets:

• Choose beets of uniform size to promote even cooking.
• To retain nutrients and color, boil, bake or steam without peeling first. The skin will easily rub off under cold running water after they are cooked.
• When trimming, leave at least an inch of the leaf stems attached and do not remove the root. The stem and root are removed after cooking.
• If you must peel before cooking, a swivel vegetable peeler works better than a paring knife.
• To avoid staining your fingers, wear rubber gloves when handling beets.
• To remove beet juice from fingers, rub with wet salt and lemon juice and then wash with soap and water. For cutting boards and plastic containers, use a
• bleach solution.
• 1 Tablespoon of vinegar added to beet cooking water will not only reduce the odor of the cooking beets, but also help them retain their bright color.
• For older beets, try adding a pinch each of sugar and salt to each cup of cooking water to revive sweetness and color.
• Beets are naturally high in sodium, so no salt is necessary in the cooking water.
• To microwave whole beets, pierce the skin and place one pound in a micro-proof dish with 2 Tablespoons of water. Cook on high for 9 to 12 minutes. Let rest for 5 minutes before cooling and peeling.
• To avoid bleeding of color into other ingredients, add beets just before serving if possible.
• When cooked, drain off the hot water and fill the pot with cold tap water. Do this a couple of times, until the beets are cool enough to handle. Now take each beet in your hands and just slide the skin right off with your fingers. How easy!!!

(Source: homecooking.about.com)

2 medium sized beets, boiled & diced 

1 small onion, diced

1 tomato, skinned, seeded & diced

1 tsp crushed garlic cloves

2 tbs finely chopped parsley

2 tbs finely chopped cilantro

4 medium sized potatoes, boiled & sliced

For the dressing

2 tsp vinegar

4 tsp olive oil

salt & pepper to taste

green or black olives for garnish

Mix together the dressing ingredients.

Combine beets in a salad bowl with the onion, tomato, garlic cilantro & parsley.Pour over half the dressing, toss gently. Place the sliced potatoes in a shallow bowl & toss with remaining dressing.Chill both beet and potato salad for 30 minutes.

When ready to assemble, arrange beets, tomato & onion in the center of a shallow bowl & arrange potatoes in a ring around them. Serve cold garnished with olives.

(Source: recipeland.com)

This is my submission to this month's destination Morocco hosted by My Kitchen, My World, Vegetarian Foodie Fridays hosted by Breastfeeding Moms Unite!, Healing Foods - Beet, hosted by Mharo Rajasthan's Recipes & Siri's Corner, Low Oil/Low Calorie hosted by Mharo Rajasthan Recipes & Foodelicious, Dish name starts with 'B' by Learning-to-cook, and finally to this week's Souper Sundays hosted by Kahakai Kitchen.

Phew!!!!