Quinoa and Roasted Beet Salad
Why I Love This Recipe
Whole Food's Markets has cooking demonstrations that are free. I recently attended one called Transitioning to a Gluten Free Diet. Not only is this a delicious salad and side dish, but its gluten free and packed with nutrients.
Ingredients You'll Need
1 bunch of beets
Greens from 1 bunch of beets
Salt to taste
1 to 2 TB extra virgin olive oil
2 garlic cloves, minced
2 tsp caraway seeds, lightly cruhed
4 cups cooked quinoa
Crumbled goat cheese to garnish (optional, I opted out)
Directions
Trim the greens off the beets. Scrub the beets and wrap them individually in foil. Bake for about an hour, until for tender. Let them cool. Once cool enough to handle, peel off the skins, cut into 1/4" dice. Set aside.
While the beets are in the oven, cook your quinoa. 1 cup of dry quinoa yields about 3 cups. This recipe calls for 4 cups. You can cook 2 cups of dry quinoa per the package instructions and put whats leftover in the fridge. It'll be good for a couple of days. Or, you can freeze it. Quinoa freezes very well and thaws quickly for future use.
Wash the beet greens and remove the center vein. Steam for for 2 or 3 minutes then plunge them into ice water to 'refresh' them a bit. Squeeze them dry and chop. (beet greens act a lot like spinach greens).
In a large heavy skillet, heat the olive oil over medium heat. Add the garlic and cook, stirring, until fragrant (about 30 seconds). Add in the caraway seeds and beet greens along with some salt and pepper to taste. Cook and stir for about 30 more seconds. Toss in the quinoa and beets
Toss together until everything is well combined, heated through and the quinoa is beet red.