Quite dissimilar from a typical salad. Everyone in my family, including my 8- and 9-year-old, loves this salad. Peas are widely accessible all year long; however, I have also used wax beans, asparagus, zucchini, and other seasonal vegetables. When it’s finished, it’s also wonderful to sprinkle some freshly cracked pepper on top. I tested this recipe with beets in cans. Due to the beets’ excessive softness, it does not turn out quite as nicely.
| Prep Time: | 10 mins |
| Cook Time: | 40 mins |
| Total Time: | 50 mins |
| Servings: | 6 |
| Yield: | 6 servings |
Ingredients
- 3 beets, peeled and cut into 1/4-inch cubes
- 6 slices bacon
- 1 bunch red Swiss chard – leaves chopped and stems discarded
- 1 cup frozen peas
- ¾ cup crumbled feta cheese
Instructions
- Place the beets into a saucepan with enough water to cover by 1 inch; bring to a boil. Reduce heat to medium-low, cover, and simmer until the beets are easily pierced with a fork, about 30 minutes.
- Meanwhile, cook the bacon in a large, deep skillet over medium-high heat until evenly browned, about 10 minutes; transfer the bacon to a paper towel-lined plate to drain, reserving the bacon drippings in the skillet. Roughly chop the bacon and set aside.
- Add the drained beets and red Swiss chard to the reserved bacon drippings; cover the skillet, place over medium heat, and cook until the chard is tender, 3 to 5 minutes. Stir the chopped bacon and frozen peas into the beet mixture; continue cooking until the peas are cooked through, about 5 minutes. Sprinkle the feta cheese over the mixture; stir. Serve hot.
Nutrition Facts
| Calories | 195 kcal |
| Carbohydrate | 10 g |
| Cholesterol | 32 mg |
| Dietary Fiber | 3 g |
| Protein | 8 g |
| Saturated Fat | 6 g |
| Sodium | 533 mg |
| Sugars | 5 g |
| Fat | 14 g |
| Unsaturated Fat | 0 g |
Reviews
Great salad, but don’t discard the Swiss chard stems!!! They are so delicious! Just add them several minutes before the leaves. Also, if you have the beet greens, wash them well and add them with the chard stems to cook a bit longer than the chard leaves.
I didn’t add peas because I didn’t have any. Didn’t add bacon because vegetarian. Drizzled with balsamic vinaigrette. This was so good! And pretty
Very yummy. Didn’t have chard so substituted kale (had to microwave it so it would mix in properly). Veggie bacon worked great, just double it so the flavor comes through. Carrots are an excellent addition (or substitution) for beets. I didn’t have many beets so threw in lots of carrots and worked great!
Good stuff! The only thing I differently was not cooking the ingredients in all of the bacon grease. I poured 1/2 of it out and it was perfect.
This is a wonderful dish. The small amount of feta cheese really pulls it all together. I added chicken for a main dish and loved it. Great the next day!
I used kale instead of Swiss chars and it turned out great! My husband was skeptical but was ok eating beets for the first time in 20 years !
Excellent! the only change I made was I used Turkey bacon, to cut back the fat.
Very good and a good use of the beets, chard and peas out of my garden. I didn’t have any feta so skipped the cheese but will try that next time.
This is tastier than it sounds. I didn’t have peas and feta cheese so I added pickled veggies and goat cheese.
swap out the cheese for goat a bit more sofisticated version
I used natural uncured bacon and there’s only green chard in my garden so I used that and it was delicious. I think next time I make this recipe I’ll try using less bacon because I think it overwhelmed the natural goodness of the beets which were straight from my garden and are a lot sweeter than beets from the store. Thanks Beth.
This is delicious! We used Kale instead of swiss chard, but otherwise followed the recipe exactly, and we will be making it again. We used one bunch of beets from the farmer’s market boiled whole & then skinned & chopped.
This really took me by surprise it was that good. I’m not a fan of beets but this was an amazing side dish. I left out the feta just because I don’t care for it and I used spinach because thats what I had on hand. Will certainly be making this one again.
This was awesome! I’m not a big fan of beets but this recipe was great. The only difference I made was using 9 bacon strips because that’s what I had. I can’t wait to have the leftover for lunch tomorrow. *UPDATE* Had it with Turkey Bacon and it tasted good too.
I’ve made this 3 times this summer…never with bacon because it doesn’t grow in my garden with the chard and the beets! Still an amazing dish which even my kids enjoy. I trim the beets and boil them in their skins in a large pot just until I can stick a knife into them (crisp-tender). I then run them under cold water to slip the skins off, chop, and add them to the chard (or beet tops) with the peas. Yum.
I grew beets for the first time and was looking for a way to prepare them. I found this recipe and loved it! My picky son even ate it because it had bacon. I used beets and Swiss chard from my garden and fresh pea pods. I snapped the pods in half and barely cooked them. I am thinking about adding cannellini beans tonight and making this a one dish dinner.
Eating both fresh beets and swiss chard were new flavors for my family. It was a pretty good recipe for us to start with.
Bummer! This recipe evidently doesn’t work well with vegetarian “bacon,” which is what I used. Maybe you really do need the bacon fat to add flavor. Veggie bacon doesn’t leave grease behind, and I found the dish to be pretty bland.
This was surprisingly amazing dish! I have made this 3 x’s now and the only thing I have changed to this recipe is add one can of garbonzo beans for added protein and I love it!
We loved this salad, will make it again. It was good warm but better the next day after refrigeration. I used more swiss chard than called for and also added the beet tops and some extra spinach. It was fantastic.
This is a pretty tasty dish. However, there are some unnecessary ingredients to it. First, the peas get lost in the dish; just leave them out. Second, why is Swiss Chard used? You know, beets come with their own, very tasty greens! Simply choose beets with nice greens and use the whole plant. No need to dispose of the beet greens; it is wasteful.