Spring is such an exciting time! At least here in Chicago it is. The sun stays out longer, the weather gets warmer and we can finally see the light at the end of the tunnel that is winter. Every year, like clockwork, I completely forget how much I love when the weather starts to warm up. Seriously, it's like my brain resets some time during the looooong, long winter and I completely forget that Chicago actually has seasons. So, when Spring finally rolls around, my brain is like WHOA and I get super excited and then I make a salad. In this case, a really gorgeous one.
Can we just talk about how good looking candy cane beets are? I mean seriously. And butter lettuce is gorgeous. And open one of those sugar snap peas and it's like whooaaa beautiful! Well done, nature. Really top notch.
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For this salad I like to keep the sugar snap peas raw. If you prefer, you can quickly boil them but make sure to have an ice bath ready to stop the cooking to make sure there's still that snap! Or else you'd just have sugar peas on your hands (get it?). This salad is super simple but since the colors are so stunning, you'll definitely impress with this one. If you want to get fancy with the peas (like I did in the photos) you can open a few of them to add some nice texture.
Take a photo, this is going to be one good looking dish!
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Spring Salad with Sugar Snap Peas and Beets
Ingredients
For the salad
- 1 Head butter lettuce torn
- 1 Pound sugar snap peas
- 2 Cups watercress
- 1 Candy cane beet very thinly sliced
- ½ English cucumber thinly sliced
- Fresh dill roughly chopped, to taste
- Lemon zest to taste
For the dressing
- 2 Tablespoons olive oil
- 1 Tablespoon fresh lemon juice
- 1 Tablespoon plain kefir
- ½ Teaspoon honey
- 1 Clove garlic smashed
- Salt and pepper to taste
Instructions
- Make the dressing. Mix all the ingredients together and set aside.
- Make the salad. Thinly slice the beets and cucumber. Arrange the butter lettuce, watercress, sugar snap peas, beets and cucumbers on a plate, top with lemon zest and dill. Discard the garlic clove and lightly dress the salad.
- Enjoy!
Barbara says
I absolutely love your recipe! I am writing vegetarian recipe round ups on my blog in 2019 for people who are trying to make more meat-free meals (everyone has to start somewhere). I would love to feature you. You can check out my blog (for beginner environmentalists) at sunshineguerrilla.com. Is it alright if I share this link to your recipe?
Carolyn Mazzocco says
Hi Barbara,
Absolutely! Thanks so much for sharing.
Carolyn
Erin says
This is the prettiest salad I've seen in a long time. Will have to try it
Carolyn Mazzocco says
Thank you so much, Erin! It's definitely one of my favorite salads. It's always more fun to eat food that's so pretty, right?