Raw Beet, Apple, and Cabbage Salad with Pumpkin Seeds and Lemon

General Xerophagy Published August 02, 2026

Raw beets are badly underrated. Cooked, they go soft and earthy; grated raw, they stay crisp and taste sweet and mineral, and they hold up under a sharp dressing for hours without wilting. This is a salad you can make at noon and eat at seven.

Cabbage and apple bring crunch and acidity, and pumpkin seeds bring the fat and protein that a no-oil salad needs to be a meal rather than a side. A half cup of seeds across two servings is meaningful — around eight grams of protein, plus zinc and magnesium.

The dressing is lemon, a little of the beet juice, salt, and mustard. Without oil, the beet juice itself provides body and turns everything a deep magenta.

FASTING LEVEL: Xerophagy (strict — raw, no oil)
SERVINGS: 2 as a meal, 4 as a side
TIME: 20 minutes

INGREDIENTS

- 2 medium raw beets (400g), peeled and coarsely grated
- 1/4 small red cabbage (250g), very finely shredded
- 2 firm apples, julienned or coarsely grated
- 2 carrots, coarsely grated
- 1/2 red onion, sliced paper-thin
- 3/4 cup (100g) raw or toasted pumpkin seeds
- 1/2 cup (60g) walnuts, roughly chopped
- 1 cup (30g) parsley, chopped
- 1/2 cup (15g) dill, chopped

For the dressing:
- Juice of 2 large lemons
- 2 tablespoons apple cider vinegar
- 1 tablespoon whole-grain or Dijon mustard
- 1 garlic clove, grated
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 1/2 teaspoon black pepper
- 1 teaspoon caraway seeds, crushed
- 1 teaspoon maple syrup or 1 mashed date (optional)

METHOD

1. Grate the beets on the coarse side of a box grater, or use the shredding disc of a food processor. Do not use a fine grater — you want strands with bite, not pulp.

2. Put the sliced red onion in a small bowl with half the lemon juice and a pinch of salt. Leave 10 minutes to soften and lose its bite.

3. Whisk all the dressing ingredients together, including the lemon the onion has been sitting in.

4. Combine the beets, cabbage, apples, and carrots in a large bowl. Pour over the dressing and toss thoroughly with your hands — a spoon will not distribute it evenly.

5. Let the salad sit 15 minutes. The salt and acid soften the cabbage slightly and the beet bleeds into everything.

6. Toss again, then fold in the parsley, dill, and drained onion.

7. Top with pumpkin seeds and walnuts just before serving so they stay crisp.

NOTES

- On oil days: 4 tablespoons of good olive oil in the dressing makes this a different and excellent salad.
- This keeps two days refrigerated and the flavor deepens, though the nuts should be added fresh.
- Add soaked sprouted lentils or a handful of hemp seeds to push the protein higher.
- Grated raw kohlrabi, celeriac, or fennel all belong in this bowl.