Beets are one of those foods that have been associated with Pesach, literally for generations.

Beets keep well for long periods of time, are full of healthy vitamins, and have so many varied uses. Instead of the typical borscht or chrein, why not try something new this year?

Another great beet tip that I've discovered: you can freeze cooked beets, and when they are defrosted they taste just as good as the day they were cooked. This is a GREAT time saver. I buy a lot of beets at one time, and peel, check and boil them all on the same day. Since they shred and/or chop nicest when they are cold, I wait for the beets to cool and I cut/shred/slice them into whatever form I want to store away. Then I pack them into disposable plastic containers, label and freeze them. This saves tons of time during the holiday, and also saves me some valuable fridge space. Plus, I do not have to worry about them rotting or wilting before they are even cooked.

I really enjoy this particular salad, and surprisingly, so do my kids. If you need to cut down on sugar intake, you can cut the sugar here to 1/4 cup and still maintain the sweet flavor from the fruits in the salad. The taste is outstanding, and the presentation is so pretty with the vivid splash of colors against each other…

Ingredients:

  • 2 ½ cups cooked and shredded beets (approximately 3 medium sized beets)
  • ½ cup sugar
  • ¼ tsp. salt
  • 1 tsp. fresh lemon juice
  • ¼ cup liquid beets were cooked in; (or just use the mandarin orange juice below, if you threw out the beet juices by accident)
  • ¼ cup almond slices
  • 6 dried apricots, diced
  • 1/3 cup white raisins, optional
  • 1 can mandarin orange pieces, juice included
  • ¼ - ½ cup pine nuts for garnishing, optional (If you can find pine nuts in your area with kosher-for-Passover certification it adds a great crunch.)

Directions:

  1. Cook beets until soft (45-60mins.) Set aside ¼ cup of the liquid from the cooked beets. Wait for beets to cool. Then shred.
  2. Mix together the beets, sugar, salt, juice and water. Refrigerate until serving.
  3. Right before serving, add in almond slices, diced apricots, and white raisins, tossing just a bit. Decorate with the mandarin orange slices and pine nuts arranged nicely on top and serve.

Yields: 4 servings