It’s detox time!
This detox salad is a fresh, vibrant and healthy combination of detoxifying beets, beet greens, crunchy carrots, crisp apples, cilantro, naturally sweet raisins and protein rich hemp hearts all tossed in a fresh and flavorful citrus ginger dressing.
I’m so excited to share this delicious salad with you today. It has a bit of sweetness from the raisins, carrots and apple, a little earthiness from the beets, a slight sour from the lime juice, and some zest from the ginger and cardamom. Add to that how colorful it is, healthy, nutritious, easy to make and so fresh – it’s a detox salad keeper!
The flavors pair and mingle well, and I think those of you who love detox salads will definitely find this combination pleasing on many levels. I can literally make a large batch of this salad and eat it all day long, for a few days on end to boot. It’s what’s for dinner, and lunch tomorrow!
After a weekend of trials with the last recipe, Pizza Pie + Balsamic Tomato Sauce + Roasted Vegetables, it was time to get away from heavy, carb filled foods and get into something fresh and detoxifying. And this vibrant detox salad was the best thing ever!
Detox Salad Ingredients
- beet with greens
- apple
- carrots
- cilantro
- organic raisins or golden raisins
- hemp hearts or sesame seeds
- organic tofu (optional)
- lime juice (lemon is fine too)
- ginger
- cardamom, optional
- pure maple syrup or coconut nectar, optional
Tips and Suggestions
- For the beets, feel free to use golden beets instead. Red beets can be a bit messy. For this reason I decided to chop my beets instead of grating them, which tends to really leave a red wet mess. But of course, feel free to grate your beets if you rather. It will give extra moisture to your salad if you do. Even grating the apple will release a lot of moisture adding extra juices as well (at least my Fuji apples did). Do what feels best to you!
- Here we can use the beets and the greens – a win all around! If you can’t find the beets with their greens, use chopped spinach, dandelion greens, even lacinato kale (aka: dinosaur or Tuscan kale) would be great.
- The cardamom is optional. If you don’t use it often, there is no need to buy this just for the salad dressing although it is delicious and you may find other uses for it either here soon, or elsewhere. If you don’t have it, you will still have a great dressing.
- This salad tastes better the longer your able to let it set and let the flavors mingle. This is a great salad to prepare in advance and store in the fridge until ready to serve.
How To Make Detox Salad
Start by making the dressing, combine the lime/lemon juice, ginger, cardamon and maple syrup together in a small bowl and set aside to let the flavors mellow and come together. Julienne the beets, beet greens, apples and carrots. Place them in a large bowl with the raisins and cilantro. Pour the dressing over the salad ingredients and toss to coat. (You can also make this ahead of time and keep refrigerated until ready to serve.) Serve topped with a good sprinkle of hemp hearts or sesame seeds, and some extra raisins if you like as they add a nice sweetness.
That’s all it takes to create a fresh & vibrant detox salad!
For More Fresh & Healthy Salad Inspiration
- Apple, Beet & Fennel Salad
- Cucumber + Cantaloupe Salad
- Kale & Red Cabbage Slaw
- Kale, Date & Almond Salad + Lemon Dressing
- Super Spinach Salad + Carrot Miso Ginger Dressing
FRESH & VIBRANT DETOX SALAD
Super nutritious, easy, beautiful and delicious! Beets, apples, carrots and more…
- Prep Time: 15 min
- Total Time: 15 min
- Yield: Serves 2 - 4
- Category: Salad
- Cuisine: Vegan
Ingredients
- 1 large beet with greens, beet julienned or grated and greens julienned
- 1 large apple, cored and diced
- 2 medium carrots, grated
- 1/2 cup cilantro, roughly chopped
- 1/2 cup organic raisins or golden raisins
- a few tablespoons hemp hearts or sesame seeds, to serve
Ginger Lime Dressing
- 3 – 4 tablespoons lime juice (lemon is fine too)
- 1 inch knob of ginger, finely grated (i used a microplane)
- 1/8 teaspoon ground cardamom, or to taste
- 1/2 – 1 teaspoon pure maple syrup or coconut nectar, optional
Instructions
In a small bowl, mix together the dressing ingredients. Set aside to let the flavors mellow and come together. Check dressing for flavor before serving.
Prepare your salad ingredients and use 3 to 4 large beet leaves (about 1 cup lightly packed) and place all ingredients in a large bowl. Pour dressing over the salad ingredients, toss to coat. (You can also make this ahead of time and keep refrigerated until ready to serve.)
Serve topped with a good sprinkle of hemp hearts or sesame seeds, and some extra raisins if you like as they add a nice sweetness.
Serves 2 large portions or 4 -6 small portions.
NOTES:
If you don’t find beets with the greens, use spinach, dandelion greens or lacinato kale instead. Use golden beets in place of red beets to keep the color mess to a minimum.
The cardamom can be optional. If you don’t use it often, there is no need to buy this just for the salad dressing although it is delicious and you may find other uses for it either here soon, or elsewhere. If you don’t have it, you will still have a great dressing.
This salad tastes better the longer your able to let it set and let the flavors mingle. This is a great salad to make in advance and store in the fridge until ready to serve.
Rachel says
Are the beets cooked first? Never had them raw!
Agen Resmi Fiforlif says
People have always tried to convince me that I'd like beets if only I made them a certain way, and I always thought they were crazy–until now. I'm definitely going to put this in heavy rotation. Thanks so much for the recipe!
Chayooo
Eleanor says
Thank you for sharing this recipe – it is absolutely delicious!
Robyn says
I hate beets and think they taste like soil, but I'm trying to detox my liver so I made this and absolutely loved it. I think the ginger lime dressing really helps tame the soil taste. And cardamom is my favorite spice. People have always tried to convince me that I'd like beets if only I made them a certain way, and I always thought they were crazy–until now. I'm definitely going to put this in heavy rotation. Thanks so much for the recipe!
rose says
This is quite possibly my favorite salad ever. I've taken to calling it "Beet Salad of Love and Earthy Deliciousness" – somehow "Detox Salad" just doesn't seem to do it justice. Thanks so much for this and all of your other recipes!
julie@thesimpleveganista says
I love your title much better! I agree, it's delicious :)
darkhorse43 says
I just had flashbacks to the mushroom ale pie at Mildred's. It was the only place I went twice when I visited London in 2006.
This salad looks heavenly. Maybe it can help con my husband into eating beets :)
julie@thesimpleveganista says
It's a perfect way to get those who care for beets much to enjoy them!
Tami@NutmegNotebook says
Beets are at the top of my list for adding to salads. I know not everyone enjoys their earthy flavor but I never tire of them!
Your salad looks amazing and something I would enjoy. I do keep cardamom on hand as I love it in my chili recipes.
julie@thesimpleveganista says
They do have an earthy taste. I don't like them alone but love them in salads with sweet flavors to mask it a bit…that is until I become adjusted completely and can eat them as is. They can be an acquired taste can't they. :)
Thank you! This salad is just delicious in my book. I'll have to try cardamom in chili…never would've thought of that! Cheers :)