Wikipedia says: “A “Throw Together Salad” is a salad that can be made largely by combining together ingredients that require little to no chopping.”
I’m joking!! But if there were a definition of a Throw Together Salad, that’s what it would be!
For a quick-fix-meals blog, I have no idea why it took me this long to post a Throw Together Salad. Rest assured this will be rectified in the coming weeks as I intend to share a series of Throw Together Salads.
A Throw Together Salad is exactly what it sounds like – a salad that is largely “thrown together”, without the need for messy chopping. Well, I can think of only a couple of salads that require absolutely zero chopping, so I’m bending the rules a little bit so my Throw Together Salads are salads that require very little chopping.
“This is an elegant salad that’s not only fast, but also really cheap to make.”
This one is a classic flavour combination: Rocket (Arugula) with Beetroot, Feta, Walnut and a Honey Balsamic Dressing. It’s often made with goats cheese, but that is much more expensive than feta (at least, it is here in Australia) and I find that for a salad where you just scatter over a crumbling of cheese, there’s really no need to use goats cheese. In fact, I bet most people wouldn’t know the difference, especially if you use Danish Feta, the texture of which is practically the same as goats cheese but it costs a fraction of the price. You can get Danish Feta at major supermarkets in Australia at the deli counter for around $10/kg ($5/lb). You only need about 70g/2oz to make a side salad for 4.
The slightly peppery flavour of the rocket lettuce matches so well with the sweetness of beetroot, the creamy tang of the feta and warm crunch of the walnut. And the balsamic dressing is the perfect match for this salad, with it’s dark golden syrupy consistency that clings to the rocket leaves and gets soaked up by the feta.
The scattering of walnuts really takes this to the next level, and you only need a few tablespoons. At my local fruit & veg store (for those that live in Australia – Harris Farms!), you can buy walnuts by weight so it literally cost me less than a dollar for a small handful.
“You don’t need to use expensive balsamic vinegar to make a great dressing. Just add honey.”
There’s no need to use expensive balsamic either. The secret to making a great syrupy salad dressing using any balsamic is to add honey. It not only thickens the dressing but it adds warmth to the flavour that you can’t get using just sugar.
And lastly, my time saving tip is to buy canned baby beetroots. If you are lucky enough to open the can and find that they are in fact baby beetroots, then you don’t even need to cut them. But I opened the can today to find that they were rather large baby so I cut them into quarters.
Without further ado, here’s the recipe! Super simple.
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Throw Together Salad #1: Rocket (Arugula), Beetroot, Walnuts and Feta w/Balsamic Dressing
Ingredients
- 250 g / 8 oz canned baby beetroot , halved or quartered if they are large
- 120 g / 4 oz baby rocket (arugula) leaves
- 60 g feta (preferably Danish, otherwise Greek), or goats cheese
- 3 tbsp walnuts , lightly crushed with your fingers
Dressing
- 2 1/2 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
- 1 tbsp balsamic vinegar (ordinary, not aged or glazed)
- 1 tbsp honey
- 1/2 tsp salt
- Black pepper
Instructions
- Combine the Dressing ingredients in a jar, and shake well. You might need a spoon to break up the honey to mix it in properly. Adjust salt to your taste.
- Place rocket lettuce in a serving bowl.
- Scatter over beetroot. No need to toss - because of the weight, it should disperse throughout fairly well.
- Crumble over the feta and scatter with walnuts.
- Drizzle over dressing and serve.
Recipe Notes:
Nutrition Information:
Have been searching for this recipe. Tasted the salad and loved it. The cook wouldn’t part with all the details but this is it. Will be making it soon.
Hi, i have a raspberry balsamic vinegar, would this work?
Sounds divine Kirsty!
You had me at Danish Feta! Love the stuff. The winning and surprised ingredient,was the honey! Love,love, love it!!!
Yesssss! So glad you love it Ange!
Hi , just wondering what other cheese you.can replace the fetta with?
I’ve been making this salad for a while now and just now decided to comment. We love the combination of a zesty, creamy, crunchy and peppery salad. Thank you so much for an amazingly simple yet outstanding salad. 🙂 ❤
That’s terrific to hear Fadia! Thank you for letting me know you enjoyed this – N x
Great to stumble over an Aussie food site. Where I don’t have to Google ingredients (arugula? – first heard that on the USA show Food Network) and the amounts are in grams 🙂
I made my own version the other day before visiting here, and am going to try adding honey to my dressing. I also added red onion and mustard – delish. Bonza, maaaaate 🇦🇺
Thank you! This was delicious for lunch (made with what I had available: lettuce from the garden/beets I had roasted when I heated the oven to bake bread yesterday/feta & hazelnuts) . I really enjoyed goat cheese salads in Spain but couldn’t figure out what the extra yummy ingredient was in the dressing – you have taught me – it was honey! So double thank you.
Wonderful! So glad you enjoyed this Robyn, thanks for letting me know! N x
Hi there. What would you say to thinly sliced red onion with this salad?
I say YES!
I dnt get rocket leaves where I live.
What can I use instead of that ?
Do you have arugula? That’s what we call rocket. Otherwise baby spinach would be beautiful!
That dressing! Yummy. I was looking for a dressing to eat arugula and found yours, wow. It’s delicious! Thanks for sharing!
I’m so pleased to hear that Michelle! Thank you for letting me know! N xx
Probably the best salad I’ve ever eaten!
Thanks Joyce, you’re so sweet! 🙂 N x
I could probably eat this for three meals a day. I don’t like walnuts so I used roasted pistachio nuts instead. The olive oil ratio was too much for me so I put more balsamic and added some pickled beet juice. LOVE LOVE LOVE!!
WOW! Thank you Amy!! I’m so glad you enjoyed this, it really is one of my “go to” salads!
Yum yum yum! Thank you for using feta cheese and not blue cheese… somehow I feel like anyone else would have used blue cheese. Well not ME obviously. I know you love your beetroot and I love to see it in your dishes! It keeps me inspired. And I have to make a mental note to start calling Argula “Rocket” just to be cool and confuse people around here. And pretty, pretty photos. Pinning!
Blue cheese WOULD go great with this, and I know you don’t like it but I love it!! I’d use blue cheese as a treat. Feta is my day to day choice because it’s cheap! 🙂
YUM! I love the idea of beet and arugula together. Sounds delicious 🙂
Thanks Kate! Hope you like it 🙂
This looks like a great salad! I love the flavours of arugula, goat cheese, and beetroot together. And great tip with the honey balsamic dressing. Thanks for sharing the recipe!
Thanks for your kind words Katie!
I made the salad dressing today to go with my usual lunch salad. It was very delicious!
So glad you enjoyed it Sarah! Nice and fast, wasn’t it?!
Yes, it was so fast – just a few minutes and so good!
You’re such a sweetie, thanks Sarah!
So, so yummy! There’s a version of this salad here in Charleston, SC that adds a bit of root beer to the dressing. It’s an interesting twist. 🙂
Root beer in dressing? You have me curious now, I’m going to do some googling! Thanks for dropping by Tekesha!
I love every single one of these ingredients – especially the goat cheese! Yum! A ‘throw together salad’ is fantastic for the weekdays. I make a side salad with every dinner, and this would be perfect! Quick and amazingly delicious ingredients, I could throw this together just before dinner is served! Not to mention this would make a great full meal salad for lunch!
Thanks for your kind words Kathleen!! And yes, it really is quite a filling lunch – beets are filling!!
That’s funny! But I love throw together salads 🙂 This is just my type! Love balsamic, arugula and feta. Beets not so much, but I’ll try it, since I haven’t had them in a while, I might start to like them!
Swap the beets out Mira! So many other things you could use 🙂
Mmm this looks so good! I eat salad for lunch every day and am always looking for ways to try new combinations!
Thanks Sarah!