Yesterday was hot and humid as heck, so we decided to plan a cooling dinner. To make it happen, we pre-cooked our Beets and quinoa and allowed them to cool and then served them on a bed of baby spinach! From there, we added some crumbled feta to add a bit of a salty note to our earthy/sweet flavour profile. Lastly, we topped everything with some honey roasted sunflower kernels (that I brought home as leftovers from a Philmont lunch) and an apple and pecan vinaigrette.
We think there are a few natural ingredient substitutions that you may like if you want to try something slightly different. For that, we’d suggest a crumbled blue cheese or goat cheese in place of the feta. Then, for the dressing, we think a creamy poppy seed dressing or a balsamic vinaigrette would stand in well if you haven’t got apple pecan on hand!
Time: 60 minutes (a little longer if you want to have all your ingredients chilled)
Ingredients:
- Golden Beets
- Quinoa (we used tri-colour)…1/4 cup per serving.
- Baby Spinach
- Sweet Onion
- Crumbled Feta
- Honey Roasted Sunflower Seeds (although lightly salted would work instead)
- Salad Dressing of your choice
Method:
- Rinse your beets, and place them in a pot large enough to fit them. Then, cover with water, and simmer for around 45 minutes until the beets are soft enough to pierce easily with a fork. Then, set aside to cool.
- As your beets cook, combine your quinoa and water (2x the volume of your quinoa) in another pot, and simmer until your quinoa absorbs all the water. When your quinoa is done, transfer to a bowl, and place in the fridge to cool.
- As your beets and quinoa cook, slice your onion as thinly as you can.
- When your beets are cool to the touch, cut the very top and very bottom pieces off, and use your thumbs to peel the skin off. Then, cut your beets into cubes.
- Arrange a good handful of baby spinach on your salad plate or bowl.
- Scoop your cooled quinoa atop your spinach. Then, arrange your onion slices over the quinoa.
- Place your beet cubes over your quinoa, and sprinkle your feta and sunflower seeds over your salad.
- Drizzle your dressing atop everything.
- Devour, and enjoy!
