Just Beet It!

Beets. I hated them when I was growing up. It might have had something to do with being over-boiled or too soggily pickled. I never enjoyed eating them and I most definitely never ate them raw. I'm going to be honest and tell you I stole the idea of this recipe from one of Jamie Oliver's cookbooks, and in my opinion, made it way better. He just paired the pears and beets with a little lemon juice. I think that's pretty boring. If you want to make a fun colourful salad, here is what you are going to need. The quantity will very depending on your preferences.

Ingredients:
raw beets
apples
pears
kiwi
lemons
grapes
optional: blueberries
sunflower seeds (shelled)
olive oil
salt and pepper
goat cheese

 I usually use two beets, one apple and pear, one kiwi, and a handful of grapes for 1-2 people.
Only get blueberries when they are in season or they could end up being too expensive and too sour. Take a peeler to the beets and kiwis and get the skin off of them. Cut the beets and pears into thin match sticks. Then cut up the apples into crisp shapes. Dice up the kiwi, cut the grapes in half and mix this in a bowl with some of the sunflower seeds. The beets will stain anything and everything. Your salad will look rather red. I leave the skin on the apples because it adds another color to the mix. For a dressing, mix lemon juice with a bit of olive oil and season to tastes. Add the dressing and toss the salad again. If you want, add goat cheese on top. This goes really well with the salad. I try to get green apples and green grapes. It helps to boost the colour in the salad. Don't worry about the apples and pears turning brown as the lemon helps to stop this. This salad is great for the summer, BBQs and for spicing up your general salad life.