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Caprese Salad with Yellow Beets

A simple, colorful and delicious Caprese Salad with Yellow Beets drizzled with balsamic vinegar. A summer salad that you could eat all year long or at least all day long.

Picture of a white plate with Caprese Salad with Yellow Beets

This salad is long overdue and it is so easy, so delicious, so summer, so ‘I could eat this every day’. Everybody knows how to make a Caprese Salad and I always recommend to using Buffalo Mozzarella, if you can find it. The only thing with the Buffalo Mozzarella is that there is no way back, you will be hooked, I am warning you.

These yellow beets are like the sun, casting their glow on the Italian Caprese salad. That reminds me of something. Many years ago I attending a nutrition congress in Toulouse, in the South of France and it was a hot, seriously hot. I remember the congress was boring and the content went way over my head.  Luckily, I was attending the congress with a colleague, and we decided to make our days a little more exiting by doing some market research. We decided to visit every day a different Italian restaurant and order Caprese Salad and rate them. It is amazing how many different flavors you will find in a Caprese Salad.

We only picked the ones that had just tomato, basil and mozzarella, no fancy additions that could influence our findings. Again, amazing how big the differences were. Were we surprised? Yes and no. On the one hand it comes down to the type of tomato, the quality of the mozzarella, fresh basil or pesto, additional olive oil or balsamic vinegar. Of course freshness of ingredients plays a huge role as well as the temperature of the ingredients. A very cold Caprese salad does not taste like much; it has to be room temperature to experience the flavors. Too warm – no thank you. On the other hand, yes we were a little surprised and had fun realizing that.

I twisted the Caprese Salad by using 4 major ingredients: tomatoes, mozzarella, fresh basil and yellow beets: Caprese Salad with Yellow Beets.

Picture of a bowl with a tomato, beet, mozzarella and basil

Some salt and pepper and a drizzle of balsamic vinegar. Use a good balsamic; it makes all the difference. Quite simple isn’t it. There are many options to divert from the traditional Caprese Salad and still capture the essence. For example Cantaloupe Caprese Salad or the Bulgur Wheat Caprese Salad.

Picture of 2 alternative Caprese salads

In order to make the Caprese Salad with Yellow Beets you’ll need to cook the raw beets. You can also decide to roast them in the oven, but that requires a little bit more work. Cook the beets in water with salt, skin and all, just cut of the leaves. Cook the 3-4 beets for about 30 minutes. Size will determine how many you’ll need and how long you’ll need to cook them. The beets are done when you can just insert a knife or fork easily. Don’t overcook them, some bite left in the beets is nice.

Allow the beets to cool a little and then peel them. When you’re close to preparing the dish, allow the tomatoes and mozzarella to come to room temperature, then cut tomatoes, cheese and beets in equally thick slices. Arrange the slices nicely on a plate; stick the basil leaves, whole or torn, in between the slices.

Last but not least; sprinkle with coarse salt and freshly ground black pepper and drizzle with balsamic vinegar. You will enjoy this Caprese Salad with Yellow Beets.

Close up picture of Caprese Salad with Yellow Beets
Caprese Salad with Yellow Beets
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Caprese Salad with Yellow Beets

A simple, colorful and delicious Caprese Salad with Yellow Beets drizzled with balsamic vinegar. A summer salad that you could eat all year long or at least all day long.
Prep Time10 minutes
Cook Time30 minutes
Total Time40 minutes
Servings: 2 peoiple
Author: Marinka

Ingredients

  • 2-3 yellow beets raw
  • 2 tomatoes
  • 8 ounces Mozzarella cheese
  • fresh basil
  • salt and pepper
  • balsamic vinegar

Instructions

  • Wash the beets, cut off the leaves and transfer them to a pan with water and salt. Bring to a boil and cook the beets for approx. 30 minutes. They are done when you can just insert a knife easily. Don’t overcook them as they may become mushy.
  • Allow the beets to cool a little so you can handle them. Cut both ends off and peel the beets. Cool entirely.
  • Slice beets, tomatoes and mozzarella in equally thick slices. Make sure the mozzarella and tomatoes are not ice cold.
  • Arrange slices on a dish and stick basil leave among the slices.
  • Sprinkle with salt and pepper and drizzle with balsamic vinegar.

Nutrition

Calories: 397kcal | Carbohydrates: 15g | Protein: 27g | Fat: 25g | Saturated Fat: 14g | Cholesterol: 89mg | Sodium: 781mg | Potassium: 644mg | Fiber: 3g | Sugar: 9g | Vitamin A: 1820IU | Vitamin C: 20.9mg | Calcium: 598mg | Iron: 1.5mg

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