Steve got an organic fruit and vegetable delivery and he doesn’t always tell me what’s coming! This time, there were a few beautiful golden beets. Challenge accepted! You don’t often find produce like this in the Midwest in early spring. Roasted beets are sweet and have a pure root vegetable quality to them. I quickly started pulling together this Roasted Beet and Quinoa salad, using as much of the beet as I could.
I quickly started putting together a recipe that used as much of this beautiful product as I could. Even the leaves on these beets were lovely and tender. We didn’t actually have a lot in the house to work with. Both Steve and I had been travelling, which means we weren’t exactly eating healthy. So this all veggie meal quickly became our whole dinner!
I love roasted vegetables of any sort, and roasting beets is the best way to make sure they don’t taste like dirt! I always have a couple of shallots and some garlic around. They are just staples. We often make an instant pot full of quinoa and keep it in the fridge all week. It’s a great way to bulk up salads or have a quick ready made (and healthy!) side available. With that, I’d managed to pull together a pretty quick and tasty dinner.
Roasted beets with sauteed greens over a bed of quinoa makes a quick and easy salad. This is filling enough to make your whole meal out of, or have it as a side next to your favorite protein. A salad doesn’t always have to have lettuce, some of my favorites have none at all!
The dressing for this salad is super easy and likely uses things you have around the house. You could make your own favorite oil and vinegar based dressing for a salad like this. The key is to find the right balance. When you put it together, taste it, then let it sit and taste it again. You may find that after a while it mellows out or needs a little more salt.
Roasted Beet and Quinoa Salad
Ingredients
Dressing
- 1/2 Shallot
- 2 tbsp Dijon Mustard
- 3 tbsp Apple Cider Vinegar
- 3 tbsp Olive Oil
- Salt & Pepper, to taste
Salad
- 3 Medium Beets with Stems
- 2 Medium Carrots
- 2 cloves Garlic, minced
- 2 tbsp Olive Oil
- 1 tsp Apple Cider Vinegar
- 2 cups Cooked Quinoa
- Salt & Pepper, to taste
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 400F
- Combine dressing ingredients in a small bowl and whisk together, or put in a sealed jar and shake to combine. Let sit while you make the balance.
- Remove tops from beets and reserve. Peel beets and remove root, then cut into bite size pieces. Peel carrots and cut into bite size pieces.
- Toss beets and carrots with 1/2 tbsp of olive oil, garlic and salt and pepper. Spread on a lined rimmed baking sheet and place in the oven. Roast for 35 minutes, turning once about half way through.
- While the beets and carrots roast, wash the beet stems and leaves. Remove the leaves from the stems and cut into bite size pieces. Throw out any woody or tough stem pieces, and cut the remaining pieces into 1 inch sections.
- Heat a sauté pan over medium heat and add remaining tsp of olive oil. Add the beet stems and greens to pan, then and apple cider vinegar. Sauté until tender. This should only take a minute or two. Remove from heat and allow to cool.
- Allow the roasted beets and carrots at least 10 minutes to cool before assembling the salad.
- In a large bowl combine the quinoa, roasted vegetables and wilted greens. Season with salt and pepper and serve with dressing on the side.
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