Simple, earthy, and full of flavour – just like Crete itself
Beetroots — and their tender leaves — can be eaten raw, but they truly shine boiled in a salad or on their own.
Ingredients:
-
2 kilos of beets with their leaves
-
2–3 cloves of garlic or wild garlic leaves, finely chopped
-
Vinegar
-
Olive oil
-
Salt
Method:
Wash the beets and their leaves thoroughly.
In a pot of salted water, boil the beets until tender. Just before they’re done, add the beet leaves and let them boil briefly.
Remove everything from the heat and let them cool. Once cooled, peel the beets and cut them into pieces.
Place them in a serving bowl, add olive oil, salt, vinegar, and the finely chopped garlic. Mix well — and your beetroot salad is ready.
You can also enhance it with a spoonful of yogurt, a handful of walnuts, or some slices of green apple.
By Lena Igoumenaki
President of the Cretan Cuisine Festival Association
Cretan Cuisine Festival
Mizithropites: Authentic Cretan Pies
Meat cake
Chania Boureki or Courgette Boureki
Topia (Balls)
The Traditional 'Bread of the Year'
Snails with Broad Beans and Artichokes
Cretan Ospriada or Palikaria (A Legume Dish)
Chickpeas with Wild Leeks, Flour and Lemon Sauce
Pies with ‘Yachnera’ Greens
Fennel Pie
Sfakian Pie or Sfakianopita
Biscuits with Sesame Seeds
Sweet Rice Pie or 'Tzoulamas'
Apostoli White-Eyed Bean
Almond-Infused Goat Dish with Fennel: A Fresh Delight
Lazarosavato
The Holy Week Sourdough
Nerati Mizithropita
Easter Eggs
Kalikota
Stuffed Courgette Flowers
Stuffed Vine Leaves
Cracked Wheat and Snails
Chochli Boubouristi (Snails Face Down)
Mangiri
Symian Bean
Cretan Pilaf
Rethymno Water Pies
Xerotigana
Agnopites
Patoudo
Safidota
Kakavia (Fish Soup)
Cretan Greek salad
The Sweet Bounty of the Cretan Harvest
Okra and Unripe Grape
Kapriko
Discovering and Cooking Asphodelaceae: A Taste of Local Cuisine
Moustokouloura
Pie with 'Yachnera' Greens: Baked to Perfection
Pumpkin Stifado
Sweet Pumpkin Pies with Raki Leaves (Oven)
Xinochondros: Sour Bulgur Pasta
Prickly Pear or Indian Fig
Black Bryony
Tahini Soup without Oil
Chylofta with Milk
Tyrozouli or Cretan Home Cheese
Pickled Tassel Hyacinth
Sourdough Dagoulakia
Quince Confection
Delicious Homemade Treat with Lemon Blossoms
Tiganopites: Greek Fried Pies
Dietary Practices in 17th Century Crete
Lychnarakia
Lazarakia
Kalitsounia from Chania
Apaki with Xinohondros and Vegetables
Chickpeas with Yachnera: A Delightful Dish
Gastrin
Fotokollyva
Dyeing Easter Eggs with Madder Root and Flower Blossoms
Biza or Manarolia Stew with Eggplants
Antikristo or "Ofto" Meat
Eftazymo Bread
Skioufichta Macarounia
Anevata Kalitsounia
Galatera
Sykomarides
Snails Stifado
Poppy Pies (Paparounopites)
Bitter Orange Spoon Sweet (Nerantzi)
