Peach and Beet Salad Recipe with Thyme Vinaigrette
Fresh Southern peaches and beets are tossed with a delightful thyme dressing in this Peach and Beet Salad Recipe with Thyme Vinaigrette. The results are the epitome of summer on a plate!
This Cold Beet Salad starts with super easy microwaved beets that are chilled and transformed into an amazing side dish. The addition of peaches, blue cheese, walnuts, and thyme-flavored salad dressing, makes this a unique, irresistible salad.
Why You Must Make
- The beets are microwaved, not boiled or roasted which makes this salad perfect to make even on a hot summer day!
- Sweet. earthy beets paired with fresh, juicy peaches make an excellent salad combo.
- A thyme vinaigrette adds another punch of flavor with the addition of fresh herbs!
The first decision was how to cook the beets. I drifted back to this post from 2011. I’d forgotten about a slick technique I’d learned to prepare the beets, all done in the microwave! More on that to come, but first, let’s learn about beets.
Frequently Asked Questions
No matter the reason, my picky husband will never agree to eat beets. He’s had them in chocolate cake and his persnickety palate knew that something was amiss.
The reason some people think beets taste like dirt is due to a compound called geosmin. It’s what gives freshly plowed earth its distinctive aroma. It’s also found in lettuce, mushrooms, spinach, and even catfish.
Beeturia is the term for red urine due to beet ingestion. 10-14% of those who eat beets will have this side effect. It’s tied to the red pigments and antioxidant, called betalain.
Beets can be roasted, boiled, or microwaved. I usually wrap my beets in foil and roast until they’re soft, but this time, I placed my beets in a microwave-safe bowl, then added a couple of inches of water. I covered the bowl with plastic wrap and microwaved for 20 minutes. It was SO easy! Cool, peel, then cut into cubes and they’re ready to go.
There are many nutrients in beets, plus they are low in calories and high in fiber. Beets contain Vitamin C, Folate, B6, Iron, Potassium, and Magnesium.
According to Healthline, beets temporarily decrease blood pressure, aid digestion, and may promote brain health.
My two go-to choices are blue cheese and goat cheese. Both are creamy with a nice contrast to the earthy flavor of beets. Other options include feta, Parmesan, and ricotta.
A simple vinaigrette is always delicious with beets, but ranch, blue cheese, or a buttermilk dressing are also terrific options.
How to Make a Cold Beet Salad
- Cook, cool, peel, and cube your beets. This can be done the day before you make the salad.
- Peel and cube your peaches. PRO-Tip: slice an X on the non-stem end of the peach, just through the skin. Drop it into a pan of boiling water for 15-30 seconds or until you see the skin pulling away from the fruit. Place it into a bowl of ice water to stop the cooking. Once you can handle it, peel the peach with a paring knife or your fingers.
- PRO-Tip: Toast your nuts to bring out the natural oils and enhance their flavor. Chop the nuts.
- Make the vinaigrette.
- Arrange the spinach on individual plates or place it in a serving bowl. Top with beets, peaches, walnuts, and crumbled cheese.
- Toss with the beet salad dressing before serving.
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Peach and Beet Salad Recipe
An unusual summer salad with fresh beets, ripe peaches, spinach and more tossed in a homemade vinaigrette flavored with thyme.
Ingredients
Salad
- 3 small to medium beets, cooked, peeled and cut into cubes
- 1 fresh peach, pitted, peeled and cubed
- 3-5 ounces fresh baby spinach
- ⅓ cup crumbled blue cheese (or more to taste)
- ⅓ cup walnuts, toasted and chopped
Vinaigrette
- 3 tablespoons aged balsamic vinegar
- 3 tablespoons olive oil
- 1 teaspoon Dijon mustard
- 1 teaspoon honey
- ½ teaspoon fresh thyme leaves
- Salt and pepper to taste
Instructions
- Place the spinach in a large salad bowl or divide it between individual salad plates.
- Top with beets, peaches, blue cheese, and walnuts.
- Make the beet salad dressing by whisking together the vinegar, mustard, honey, thyme, salt, and pepper.
- Slowly drizzle in the olive oil until the mixture is well combined and emulsified.
- Drizzle salad or salads with the vinaigrette. Toss large salad right before serving.
Notes
You can replace walnuts with pecans.
If you'd prefer goat cheese, it will work well in this salad.
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Nutrition Information:
Yield:
6Serving Size:
1Amount Per Serving: Calories: 166Total Fat: 13gSaturated Fat: 3gTrans Fat: 0gUnsaturated Fat: 10gCholesterol: 6mgSodium: 221mgCarbohydrates: 10gFiber: 3gSugar: 6gProtein: 5g
Thatskinnychickcanbake.com occasionally offers nutritional information for recipes contained on this site. This information is provided as a courtesy and is an estimate only. This information comes from online calculators. Although thatskinnychickcanbake.com attempts to provide accurate nutritional information, these figures are only estimates. Varying factors such as product types or brands purchased can change the nutritional information in any given recipe. Also, many recipes on thatskinnychickcanbake.com recommend toppings, which may or may not be listed as optional and nutritional information for these added toppings is not listed. Other factors may change the nutritional information such as when the salt amount is listed “to taste,” it is not calculated into the recipe as the amount will vary. Also, different online calculators can provide different results. To obtain the most accurate representation of the nutritional information in any given recipe, you should calculate the nutritional information with the actual ingredients used in your recipe. You are solely responsible for ensuring that any nutritional information obtained is accurate.
25 Comments on “Peach and Beet Salad Recipe with Thyme Vinaigrette”
Absolutely love the combination of beets and peaches and wouldn’t have thought of that myself. A delicious salad, perfect for summer and so easy!
Wow this was so pretty and such a perfect summer time salad!
Beautiful and so delicious! A great way to highlight summer’s fresh produce.
This is a beautiful salad! I’ve been wondering what to do with the thyme growing on my deck and this is a good recipe to start with.
I can’t wait to try your combination of flavors, I know it will be good. Love peaches and I’m eating one every day while they last.
This is a First and I Love it… I have never encountered or read a food blog in which Urine is discussed. Actually I am very glad to know this fact about red/pink Urine. (I’m an Iowa girl and always considered catfish as Mississippi River bottom feeders so don’t eat that fish. Yes, I do understand they are farm-raised now.) I do love beets and have some in the fridge. I even have all the ingredients on hand but blue cheese. I’ll remedy that and make this salad. Will send you a photo. As always, appreciate your Pro Tips.
I’ve never thought to combine peaches with beets, but it’s a terrific idea!! This salad is perfect for summer!
What an ingenious combo, I never would have guessed! Fortunately, my hubby and I love beets and peaches so this would make a wonderful summer salad. And it’s so pretty too. Did you gingerly place the beets onto the salad for the photo? Regardless of how I do it, the darn little gems turn everything ruby-red!
Ha! Of course I did, Eva—especially when they were close to the peaches or cheese. What we’ll do for a decent photo, right??
I LOVE beets! We have them often, and they’re so nice as a starter with cheese. Haven’t paired them with peaches, but I will. 🙂 This looks great — thanks.
I am a HUGE beet fan, and I mean that – I can easily eat them for a week in a row; roasted, boiled, or even raw. I love to pair beets with fruit (I’ve recently tried the combination with blueberries – so good!), but I haven’t done that with peaches. How intriguing – thanks for the idea! With walnuts and blue cheese, that must be divine.
I love the combo of stone fruit and beet! This is a great everyday salad, Liz.
I love beets! I have a couple growing in a planter right now:@) I don’t really expect them to make beets, thought I’d add the pretty greens to salads or… something. I also haven’t had a nice ripe summer peach yet this year. Gotta correct that. Your salad sounds good!
Carole, I think you’ll like this method 🙂
Thanks for the tip re peeling and cubing before cooking. I’d like to try this recipe. Thanks!
Haha…too funny!!! (I’m also very jealous of all your beets!).
I’d be terrified if I microwaved beets it would come out looking like a crime scene! I have a ton of beets from our winter CSA and have avoided experimenting. I may follow in your footsteps on this one Lizzy….
Aw, thanks, Medeja!
What an elegant presentation! 🙂
Thanks, everyone! If you like beets, you’ll love this microwave preparation…so little mess 🙂
What a cheerful, pretty plate! I’ve never tried microwaving beets, must give it a go!
Lizzy, we both love beets, or beetroot as we Aussies call them! So this is a recipe I will most definitely be trying 🙂
The color of your beets look so nice and bright!
I always see the walnut oil in the store and wonder what I could do with it. So I love when I see recipes like this that show me ways to use new things!
Brandie
I love this recipe. I love beets, no else in my family does, though. I’ll have to sneak in this recipe and see what happens!