Chef Joost
Haringsla (Dutch New Herring Salad)
The harbor herring salad that catches June at its fattest: fresh Hollandse Nieuwe, beetroot, apple, potato, egg, and pickle, laid on lettuce like the North Sea has agreed to come indoors.
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Bietensalade (Dutch Beetroot Salad)
Created by
Cold beetroot, tart apple, walnuts, and a crumble of salty cheese: the Dutch buffet dish that proves winter storage food can arrive wearing its brightest coat.
Salads
Dutch
Potluck
Picnic
Make Ahead
20 min
Active Time
45 min cook•2 hr 5 min total
Yield6 servings
In my grandmother's second notebook, beetroot appears in the months when the garden had gone quiet. Not glamorous. Better than glamorous: dependable. A row of bietjes, little beets, could sit in sand or cellar and wait out weather, bad roads, late guests, and every other thing a Dutch household was expected to survive without drama.
But let me tell you a secret. Bietensalade is not the sad purple spoonful found beside a cafeteria croquette. Done properly, it is one of the great cold-table dishes: earthy beetroot, a sharp apple, a little onion, walnuts for the bite under your teeth, and enough vinegar and mustard to keep the sweetness honest. The name doesn't pretend. Bietensalade means beet salad, and sometimes a plain name is a promise kept.
The method is the lesson. Cook the beets whole so they don't bleed themselves dull in the water, peel them only once tender, and dress them while still just warm enough to drink in the vinegar. Then chill. Cold does the quiet work here, pulling the apple, mustard, and beetroot into one deep ruby bowl. Hou het altijd simpel, always keep it simple: make it ahead, carry it to the picnic, and crumble the cheese over it at the last moment so the salad stays bright and the cheese stays itself.
Beetroot has long belonged to the Dutch winter larder because it grows well in the country's heavy clay soils and stores reliably after the autumn harvest. Cold beet salads became fixtures of the Dutch koud buffet, the cold spread used for family celebrations, picnics, and holiday tables where dishes needed to wait without suffering. The modern addition of walnuts and goat cheese reflects a later Dutch home-cooking habit, but the backbone remains older: stored beetroot sharpened with acid, made useful and bright when fresh garden abundance was gone.
The technique, the tradition, and the story behind every dish.
Discover Culinary ExplorerIngredients
small raw beetroot
Quantity
750g
scrubbed
tart apple
Quantity
1
diced
red onion
Quantity
1 small
finely diced
walnuts
Quantity
75g
toasted and roughly chopped
soft goat cheese or salty young sheep cheese
Quantity
100g
crumbled
apple cider vinegar
Quantity
2 tablespoons
wholegrain mustard
Quantity
1 tablespoon
honey
Quantity
1 teaspoon
walnut oil or mild rapeseed oil
Quantity
3 tablespoons
flat-leaf parsley
Quantity
1 tablespoon
chopped
salt and black pepper
Quantity
to taste
| Ingredient | Quantity |
|---|---|
| small raw beetrootscrubbed | 750g |
| tart applediced | 1 |
| red onionfinely diced | 1 small |
| walnutstoasted and roughly chopped | 75g |
| soft goat cheese or salty young sheep cheesecrumbled | 100g |
| apple cider vinegar | 2 tablespoons |
| wholegrain mustard | 1 tablespoon |
| honey | 1 teaspoon |
| walnut oil or mild rapeseed oil | 3 tablespoons |
| flat-leaf parsleychopped | 1 tablespoon |
| salt and black pepper | to taste |
Equipment Needed
- •Medium saucepan with lid
- •Large mixing bowl
- •Small whisk
Instructions
- 1
Cook the beets
Put the whole scrubbed beetroot in a pan, cover with cold water, and bring to a gentle boil. Cook for 35 to 45 minutes, depending on size, until a small knife slips in without a fight. Keep them whole while cooking; cut beets bleed their sweetness into the pan, and we are making salad, not dye.
- 2
Peel and dice
Drain the beets and let them cool until you can handle them. Rub off the skins with your fingers or a small knife, then dice the flesh into small cubes. They should be tender but not collapsing, with enough shape to sit proudly on the spoon.
- 3
Dress while warm
Whisk the vinegar, mustard, honey, oil, salt, and pepper in a large bowl. Add the diced beetroot while it is still faintly warm and turn it through the dressing. This is when the beet drinks best; wait until it is refrigerator-cold and the dressing sits on the surface like a polite visitor.
- 4
Add the crunch
Fold in the diced apple, red onion, and toasted walnuts. Taste now. Beetroot is sweet, apple is sharp, onion is brisk, and the dressing must keep peace among them. Add a little more vinegar if the salad tastes too round.
- 5
Chill and finish
Cover and chill for at least 1 hour, longer if you have it. Just before serving, fold through the parsley and scatter the crumbled cheese over the top. The cheese goes on last for obvious reasons: beetroot stains everything it loves.
For a picnic or potluck, pack the cheese separately and add it at the table. The salad improves as it waits, but the cheese is better when it hasn't spent the afternoon turning pink.
Chef Tips
- •Small beets cook more evenly and taste sweeter than huge woody ones. If the only fresh beets look tired, use good vacuum-packed cooked beetroot without shame, but avoid jars in sharp pickle brine for this version.
- •Toast the walnuts until they smell warm and nutty, then stop. Burnt walnut turns bitter quickly and will bully the whole bowl.
- •Use a salty cheese with character: soft Dutch goat cheese is lovely, and a crumbled young sheep cheese works too. If serving dairy-free, leave it out and add a few extra walnuts and a pinch more salt.
Advance Preparation
- •The beetroot can be cooked, peeled, and diced up to 2 days ahead and kept covered in the refrigerator.
- •The dressed salad is best made 4 to 24 hours ahead; add walnuts, parsley, and cheese close to serving if you want the cleanest texture.
Frequently Asked Questions
Nutrition Information
1 serving (about 185g)
Calories
255 calories
Total Fat
17 g
Saturated Fat
4 g
Trans Fat
0 g
Unsaturated Fat
12 g
Cholesterol
8 mg
Sodium
410 mg
Total Carbohydrates
20 g
Dietary Fiber
5 g
Sugars
14 g
Protein
7 g
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