Go Back
Victoria Haneveer

Fresh Garden Salad with Lime and Beets

This delicious garden salad is very simple, featuring lettuce, tomatoes, beets, walnut halves, bell pepper and cucumber. The lime dressing is delicious with it. In fact this is one of my favorite garden salad recipes. I really love the beets in there. The salad itself is easy to put together and we recommend arranging the ingredients on top of the lettuce but if you prefer you can toss the lettuce with everything else. The dressing can be modified for a hotter taste (more chili powder and hot sauce) or a milder one (just use less of the hot stuff) but it is also very good the way it is. If you wish to serve this fresh garden salad recipe as an entrée you might wish to add some chicken to it. You can chop some cooked chicken and toss it with the other salad ingredients or even use a whole poached or pan-fried chicken breast. The dressing is especially good with poultry so this would work out well in more ways than one. Feel free to modify the ingredients if you want to. If you like the idea of using nuts but you do not have walnut halves or you are not so keen on them, you can try peanuts, cashews or almonds instead. The nuts add a crunch which goes well with the crispness of the lettuce and bell pepper. The beets are good in this garden salad because they are an unusual ingredient and offer a good contrast. You can get vacuum-packed cooked beets. Make sure all the skin has been scrubbed off because sometimes a little of it is missed before it is vacuum-packed. Other possible ingredients that you could include in the garden salad are chopped hard-boiled eggs, grated cheese, and black or green olives.
Print Recipe Pin Recipe
Prep Time 15 minutes
Total Time 15 minutes
Servings: 4
Course: Salad
Ingredients Method Notes

Ingredients
 

  • 1/2 shredded iceberg lettuce
  • 1/4 thinly sliced cucumber
  • 1/2 cup chopped cooked beets
  • 2 chopped tomatoes
  • 4 lime wedges
  • Small handful walnut halves
  • 1/2 sliced green bell pepper
  • Chopped feta cheese (optional)
For the Dressing:
  • 2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
  • 1/4 cup lime juice
  • 1/4 teaspoon salt
  • 1/2 teaspoon chili powder
  • 2 drops of hot sauce
  • 1 tablespoon honey

Method
 

  1. Whisk the extra-virgin olive oil with the lime juice, salt, chili powder, hot sauce and honey to make the dressing.
  2. Divide the iceberg lettuce between 4 serving plates.
  3. Top it with the cucumber, tomatoes, walnut halves and bell pepper strips.
  4. Add the feta if using.
  5. Arrange the beets around the outside and garnish with the lime wedges.
  6. Serve the dressing on the side.

Notes

This colorful salad might look mild but the dressing gives it a real kick. This delicious garden salad recipe boasts beets, walnut halves, bell pepper, tomatoes and more and if you fancy something a bit more spicy than a traditional garden salad, this recipe might be exactly what you are looking for.
Contrasting soft ingredients like the juicy beets with crisp ones such as the bell pepper and iceberg lettuce, this is a salad of contrasts. The spicy lime dressing is unusual and you might want to warn people it is spicy before serving it, and offer a milder dressing too for those who prefer it.