Colombian Vegan Beetroot Salad (Ensalada de Payaso) is a healthier and vegan version of the original. Besides beetroot, it contains potatoes, carrots, green onion, and cilantro. It gets its delicious creamy texture from a dressing made with avocado. This salad is easy to prepare, vegan, and gluten-free.
Jump to RecipeHaz clic en Ensalada Colombiana Vegana de Remolacha para la receta en español.
Colombian Salads
Colombia is the land of fresh fruits and vegetables. Almost everything seems to grow here, abundantly. Colombia is, however, not the land of salads. Finding a good one is very rare, and without getting into details, raw onion and raw mushrooms seem to be popular ingredients.
However, there is one typical Colombian salad, that I found through my big sources of inspiration Carlos Gaviria Arbeláez, and the food blog El Toque Colombiano. A beetroot, carrot, and potato salad, also called Clown’s salad (Ensalada de Payaso).
Colombian Vegan Beetroot Salad (Ensalada de Payaso)
This vegan version contains beetroot, potato, carrot, green onion (scallion), and cilantro. Instead of making a dressing with mayonnaise, I prepare a dressing using avocado. In this way, you do get the creamy texture that is so important in this salad, but in a vegan-friendly way. Because of the addition of mustard and vinegar, and the strong sweet flavor of the beetroot, the salad won’t taste like avocado. But it will make the salad deliciously smooth, rich, and comforting. The salad can be made ahead of time (actually that will make it taste better..)
Serving suggestions
Serve as a side salad or bring to a barbecue. You can serve the salad with patacones (fried green plantains), veggies of your choice, and/or a vegan hamburger to make a complete lunch or dinner.
Vegetarian Version
If you are looking to make an original (vegetarian, and not vegan) version, you can use mayonnaise for the dressing instead of avocado, and you can add boiled egg.
For a complete recipe, check the recipe of El Toque Colombiano.
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Colombian Vegan Beetroot Salad
Ingredients
- 2 carrots
- 3 beetroots
- 1 big potato, or 2 smaller ones
- 1 green onion (scallion), chopped
- handful cilantro, chopped
- salt and pepper
Avocado dressing/mayonnaise
- 1/2 ripe avocado, smashed (use 1 whole avocado when using a smaller kind like the hass avocado)
- juice of 1 lime
- 1 tbsp white vinegar
- 2 tbsp vegetable oil (a more neutral type like sunflower oil)
- 1/3 tsp mustard
- water, if necessary
- salt and pepper
Instructions
- Start by preparing the beetroot, potato, and carrot. Peel the carrot and potato.Boil the potato, carrots, and beetroots in different pots until they are tender.
- In the meantime, make the avocado dressing. Place all ingredients except water in a bowl and use a blender to mix well. Taste and adjust seasoning. Add some water if the texture is too thick. You want the dressing to be slightly more liquid than mayonnaise.
- When vegetables and potatoes are cooked, take them out and let them cool. Reserve a spoon of the pink cooking liquid of the beetroots. Peel the skin of the beetroot. Chop up all vegetables and potato and place in a bowl.
- Add chopped cilantro, green onion, avocado dressing, and some of the beetroot cooking liquid to add color. Mix well. Adjust the seasoning.Serve as a side dish, or eat with patacones, vegetables, and/or a vegan hamburger to make a complete meal.
