Raw Beet Salad

For dinner last night, I tried a raw beet salad, taking a cue from Clotilde Dusoulier and Mark Bittman,

Raw beets are crunchy and only slightly sweet. If you don't like pickled, boiled, or roasted beets, I suggest you try this. The raw flavor is different--fresher and not as sweet--than that of cooked beets...and raw beets really are beautiful.

Raw Beet Salad

5-6 small or medium beets
2 garlic scapes, sliced
1/4 cup feta cheese
4-5 basil leaves, chopped
1 tablespoon extra-virgin olive oil
1 tablespoon apple cider vinegar
1 teaspoon dijon mustard
salt & pepper

• Make the dressing by whisking together the oil, vinegar, & mustard with a pinch of salt & pepper.
  
• Trim, peel, and slice the beets into matchsticks.

• Add the garlic scapes & feta.
• Pour in the dressing and stir.
• Add the basil & serve.

Garlic scapes, I've discovered, are basically the flowering stems of cultivated garlic. They can be eaten raw or cooked. They have a crunchy texture, like raw green beans, and taste fairly heavily of garlic...though not as strong as raw garlic cloves.

Most people add them to stir-fries, but you can also grill them, add to scrambled eggs, make into pesto, or add raw to salads. In this salad, they provided a nice spicy contrast to the slightly sweet beets.

If you don't have garlic scapes, you can substitute chives.