🟡 Preview — not yet kitchen-tested. Recipe version 1.1 (15 Oct 2026) · Draft formulation — uncooked · Kitchen tester: not yet assigned · Video: none found (our own variation)
🥗 Буряковий салат · buriakovyi salat (beet salad)
Sweet beets, crisp apple and walnuts with lemon and dill. Beet salads are everyday dishes in Ukrainian homes; beets with prunes and walnuts, or with garlic, are familiar pairings. This apple-and-bean version is a Kitchen Monk variation, not a traditional recipe.
🔄 What makes it ours: no mayonnaise or oil; a simple lemon dressing; white beans added for a more filling side.
🍽️ Serves 4 as a side · ⏱️ Prep 15 min with cooked beets (add 45–60 min to cook raw beets, plus cooling) · Total 15 min to about 1½ hours
🍳 Equipment: cutting board, knife, mixing bowl; foil and a baking sheet or a pot if cooking raw beets
🧺 Ingredients
- 500 g cooked beets (about 4 medium), cooled and diced
- 1 crisp apple, diced
- ½ cup cooked white beans (about 90 g), no salt added, drained
- ¼ cup (25 g) walnuts, chopped
- 2 tbsp lemon juice
- 2 tbsp chopped fresh dill
- Black pepper, to taste
🔁 Prune variation (closer to a familiar Ukrainian pairing, untested): replace the apple with 6 chopped prunes and add 1 small grated garlic clove.
👩🍳 Steps
- If starting with raw beets: wrap each whole, unpeeled beet in foil and roast at 200 °C / 400 °F for 45–60 minutes, or simmer whole in water for 40–50 minutes, until a knife slides in easily. Cool, then rub off the skins (gloves help). Plain vacuum-packed cooked beets also work; check that they have no added salt, sugar or vinegar.
- Dice the beets and apple into bite-sized pieces.
- Toss the beets, apple and beans with the lemon juice and dill.
- Scatter the walnuts on top and add pepper. Serve chilled or at room temperature.
💡 Tips: add the apple close to serving so it stays crisp; the beets will turn everything pink, which is part of the charm.
🍽️ Serve with: borshch, buckwheat kasha or holubtsi.
⚠️ Allergens: contains walnuts (tree nut). Untested nut-free idea: use sunflower seeds.
🧊 Storing: refrigerate in a covered container and eat within 3 days; keep the walnuts separate and add them just before serving. Not suitable for freezing.
🎥 Video
No cook-along exists for this variation yet. It would need a short Kitchen Monk demonstration.
🛒 Shopping checklist
- ☐ Beets: 4 medium raw (about 600 g with skins), or 500 g plain cooked beets
- ☐ Crisp apple: 1
- ☐ No-salt-added white beans: one 15-oz can (you need ½ cup; use the rest elsewhere)
- ☐ Walnuts, unsalted: 25 g (about ¼ cup)
- ☐ Lemon: 1
- ☐ Fresh dill: 1 small bunch
🖨️ To print: use your browser’s Print command (on a phone, tap Share or ⋮, then Print).
🌱 Kitchen Monk Standard: no added salt, oil or refined sugar. Kitchen Monk variation. Part of The Ukrainian Flourishing Table™ · kitchenmonk.org · Corrections welcome: rfjeep@gmail.com · Last reviewed 15 Oct 2026.
