So this is actually a ridiculously simple beet salad, but I got it from my friend Melanie who just got back from Morocco. Apparently she knows at least two other recipes for beet salad, but this is her favorite:
4 small-medium sized beets
1/2-3/4 cup beet juice(produced by boiling the beets)
juice of one lemon
2-4 Tbsp sugar (to taste)
Boil beets whole, then cool, and remove skins. Dice. Mix the juice produced from boiling them with lemon juice and sugar. Pour the sauce over the diced beets. Serve chilled as an appetizer.
She also serves most dishes with a really simple side salad as well:
Cucumbers
Tomatoes
Salt (more than you think)
Vinegar (white is fine)
Olive Oil
Remove the seeds from the tomatoes, then dice. Dice cucumbers. Combine everything. Apparently this is just the basic salad they eat with everything, but it’s very refreshing for those of us who like cucumbers.
My Grandmother, Charna, served this thusly:
Cooked the beets, saved the water. Grated beets, added to the water and the rest of the ingredients you listed.
Served as a cold soup, with generous dollops of sour cream. OMG – deliciousy goodness!
The soup sounds delicious! For the cucumber/tomato salad, you can vary it with some diced onions or green pepper. If you try it, be sure to peel the tomatoes before dicing. Also, I use salad/vegetable oil, not olive oil. Enjoy 🙂