Golden Beet Quinoa Salad with Pomegranate Seeds
This vegan fall beet quinoa salad utilizes both beetroot and its greens to make for the perfect chilly evening. It is delicious served warm or cold, and is hearty enough for dinner.
I am a BIG fan of quinoa salads. They are great for potlucks or quick and easy weeknight meals. The leftovers are usually even better, making this the perfect make ahead meal.
Most of my friends and family are very familiar with my many quinoa salads. In fact, one of my quinoa salads was the light at the end of the tunnel for one of my dear friends. We all rented a big house in Palm Springs to celebrate the 30th birthday of another friend. She got stuck in a very strange room (honestly all of the rooms were strange) and what got her through the night was knowing that my quinoa salad was in the fridge. It was the funniest thought to me that my salad was her savior, but I guess it was!
What’s so great about this beet quinoa salad?
Quinoa is a protein rich pseudo grain that is the perfect blank canvas for flavor. It is technically a seed that sprouts when you cook it. I love it because it is quick cooking. It’s a great side dish, or base for a salad.
If salads aren’t usually your thing, I implore you to try quinoa salads. The quinoa is hearty and absorbs whatever vinaigrette or sauce you choose to dress it with. It’s little pearl like grains stick to the veggies you add to the salad, further infusing that dressing you used into the salad.
This beet quinoa salad is a great veggie heavy meal, but if you’re into protein, you can always add crispy tofu, beans, or even grilled chicken breast (if that’s your thing). I also think blue cheese would be the PERFECT addition.
I have to admit that when I first started buying beets by the bunch, I threw away the greens. Whenever I look back on that I cringe at how much goodness I was throwing away! Once I started utilizing the greens, I usually used them in a separate dish from the beet root such as quiche or pasta. It dawned on me the other day: why don’t I use both the root AND the green in the same meal? Sometimes things are so simple, that I completely overlook them.
Let’s Talk Ingredients
Golden Beets: these beets are more mild than red beets. They have a natural sweetness that is complemented beautifully with orange. You will want to buy the whole bunch because we will be using both the root and the greens for this recipe.
Quinoa: you can use any color or color combination you like. I recently tried some quick cooking quinoa and I did not like it for this application. Quinoa cooks in just 20 minutes, so I don’t really know why it needs to be any quicker.
Pomegranate Seeds: getting the seeds out of a pomegranate is a WHOLE thing. It is a very messy job and I often find myself buying a package of seeds to avoid it. If you want to seed the fruit yourself, I suggest scoring the fruit into eighths. Then fill a small but deep bowl with water and open the pomegranate under the water in the bowl. This will keep most of the juices in the water and off your shirt. Use your hands to loosen the seeds, which will begin to stink to the bottom of the bowl. The little white membranes will float.
Orange Balsamic Vinaigrette: this is a classic vinaigrette that is great on just about anything. It uses both orange zest and orange juice. I would recommend using a higher quality extra virgin olive oil in this salad if you have it. If not, it will still be great with whichever olive oil you have. This vinaigrette is also delicious with white balsamic vinegar.
Substitutions: if you’re not a fan of balsamic vinegar, feel free to use whatever type of vinegar you like. You can easily add protein to this salad including crispy tofu, beans, chicken, etc. Blue cheese would be the perfect addition if you are not dairy free. Any tart dried fruit would be a nice replacement for the pomegranate seeds if you can’t find them or just don’t want to deal with it.
If you’re looking for a more hearty salad in your life, give this quinoa salad a try.
Golden Beet Quinoa Salad
Ingredients
Golden Beet Quinoa Salad
- 1 bunch golden beets roots and greens separated
- 1/2 cup water
- 1 cup quinoa rinsed
- 2 cups water
- 1 tbsp olive oil
- 2 garlic cloves chopped
- 1/2 cup pomegranate seeds
- 1/2 red onion finely chopped
Orange Balsamic Vinaigrette
- 1 orange
- 1 shallot finely diced
- 3 tbsp balsamic vinegar
- 6 tbsp olive oil
- 1/2 tsp salt
- 1/4 tsp pepper
Instructions
Roasted Beets
- Preheat the oven to 375 degrees.
- Remove the beet roots from the stem/greens and wash thoroughly. Set the greens aside for use later. Cut both ends off of the roots, and if they are large, cut them in half.
- Place the beets in a small roasting pan with the 1/2 cup of water. Cover the pan with foil and bake for 25-35 minutes or until soft.
- Cool the beets for 5-10 minutes, then remove the skin. It should come right off.
- Cut the beets into 1 inch chunks
Salad
- While the beets are cooking, place the quinoa and 2 cups of water in a sauce pot.
- Bring the quinoa to a boil, cover, and reduce the heat for 20 minutes. Remove from the heat and let sit with the lid on for 5 minutes.
- While the quinoa cooks, wash the beet greens, remove and discard the long stems, and cut the leaves into small ribbons.
- Heat the 1 tbsp of olive oil in a medium pan. Saute the greens with the garlic until slightly wilted.
- Place the warm quinoa, beet root, sauteed beet greens, pomegranate seeds, and red onion in a large bowl.
Orange Balsamic Vinaigrette
- Zest and juice the orange into a small bowl.
- Add the shallots, vinegar, salt and pepper. Whisk together.
- Slowly drizzle in the olive oil while whisking the vinegar/juice mixture.
- Pour over the quinoa mixture and toss completely.