You could’ve just knocked me over with a feather. Silly me, having low expectations for a salad with roasted beets, dill and cucumber. I couldn’t have been more wrong about what was coming. This salad is absolutely fantastic. It’s almost exactly like my favorite, my mom’s creamy cucumber salad, with the addition of roasted beets. And those beets are what take this from being a good salad to being a truly amazing one.
A Fantastic Taste Combination
This roasted beet and dill cucumber salad is a great fall dish and is perfect with a Thanksgiving turkey. I love the creaminess of the dressing with the cool crisp cucumbers, followed by that great earthy beet flavor, with a hint of sweetness and smoke from roasting them. I roasted them over a grill, but you could roast them in an oven as well.
Get a good set of grill tools for these beets and anything else you grill. You won’t regret the extra few bucks they cost over the cheap ones that you’re going to have to replace in a few years. I have had several sets of Weber tools for decades and have yet to replace a single one.
Also try my roasted vegetable stuffed mushrooms.
Roasted Beet and Dill Cucumber Salad
Ingredients
- 2 pounds beets trimmed Try and get beets that are roughly all the same size. Smaller beets will cook faster.
- ½ cup ice
- 1 tablespoon vegetable oil
- 1 tablespoon white vinegar plus 2 teaspoons
- kosher salt
- ground black pepper
- 1 cucumber sliced thin
- 2 tablespoons sour cream
- 1 tablespoon dill fresh, chopped, or 2 teaspoons dried
Instructions
- Fire up your grill for high-heat direct cooking. You want to get your grill to 450 F or higher. Alternatively, you can roast the beets in the oven set to 450 F.
- Place the beets on a large piece of aluminum foil.
- Add the ice and seal the foil tightly.
- Place over direct heat and cook for 45 minutes or until the beets are fairly tender when poked with a knife or skewer.
- Remove beets from grill and carefully open the foil.
- Let cool slightly then remove the skin from the beets and slice.
- Place beets in a medium bowl with the oil, 1 tablespoon of the vinegar, and salt and pepper to taste. Stir gently to combine.
- In another bowl, gently combine the cucumber, remaining 2 teaspoons of vinegar, sour cream, dill, and salt and pepper to taste.
- Serve by placing beets on a dish, then add the cucumbers on top.
Nutrition
Nutritional values are approximate.