Colourful Quinoa-Beet Salad
Why I Love This Recipe
FEATURING: Beets, Carrot, and kale (or lettuce or or arugula or spinach or mizuna)
A colourful and nutritious recipe. You can eat it as a meal or serve it as a side order. If you plan of having leftovers, store the kale separately. Recipe adapted from Cookie+Kate: https://cookieandkate.com/raw-beet-salad-with-carrot-quinoa-spinach/
Ingredients You'll Need
SALAD
½ cup uncooked quinoa, rinsed
⅓ cup pepitas (green pumpkin seeds) or any other nut of choice
1 medium raw beet, peeled and grated
1 medium-to-large carrot (or 1 additional medium beet), peeled and grated
2 cups kale (or lettuce or arugula or spinach or mizuna), chopped
1 avocado, cubed
1 cup frozen organic edamame (or frozen peas) (optional)
VINAIGRETTE
3 tablespoons apple cider vinegar
2 tablespoons lime juice
2 tablespoons olive oil
1 tablespoon chopped fresh mint (or cilantro)
2 tablespoons maple syrup
½ to 1 teaspoon Dijon mustard, to taste
¼ teaspoon salt
Freshly ground black pepper, to taste
Directions
To cook the quinoa: Rinse quinoa in a fine mesh sieve until water runs clear, drain and transfer to a medium sized pot. Add 1 cup water and a pinch or two of salt and bring to a boil. Cover, reduce heat to medium low and simmer until water is absorbed, 15 to 20 minutes. Set aside off the heat for 5 minutes; uncover and fluff with a fork.
To prepare the vinaigrette: Whisk together all of the vinaigrette ingredients until emulsified.
To assemble the salad: In your large serving bowl, combine the pepitas, edamame (I don't bother thawing them first as I feel the heat from the quinoa warms them up, but you could), the grated beet(s) and/or grated carrot, chopped kale, cubed avocado and cooked quinoa.
Finally, drizzle dressing over the mixture (you might not need all of it) and gently toss to combine. You’ll end up with a pink salad if you toss it really well! Season to taste with salt (up to an additional ¼ teaspoon) and black pepper. Serve.
