This salad bowl is incredibly healthy, fresh, tasty & satisfying. You have earthiness & sweetness from the roasted beetroot, creamy saltiness from feta cheese (or vegan cheese, if using), crunchiness from walnuts & juicy sweetness from pomegranate seeds.
Adding edamame beans & quinoa boost the protein & fibre (& micronutrient) content, making it jolly satisfying. The salad is dressed in a cider vinegar lemon parsley dressing to compliment the fresh flavours. Altogether, a great healthy low carb gluten free meal!
Vegan option: omitting the Feta. Tofu or vegan cheese makes a good replacement
I must have been thinking of pizza or a dart-board when I layered up this salad & hence the concentric arrangement! This salad looks & tastes as just good with all the ingredients scattered randomly (though I do like to pop the beetroot chunks on last to minimise pink beetroot marks though..I just think it looks prettier!).
Serves: 2
Preparation time: 40 mins, allowing for roasting time 30mins
Ingredients:
4 medium sized raw beetroots
1/2 tbsp coconut oil or rapeseed oil
70g cooked quinoa
70g feta cheese (vegans can add vegan cheese or tofu, or simply omit)
50g walnuts, roughly chopped
1 pomegranate, deseeded
80g baby spinach
70g edamame beans
Dressing:
2 tbsp lemon juice
3 tbsp olive oil
2 tbsp cider vinegar
1-1.5 tbsp honey or agave (depending on how sweet you like your dressing to be)
2.5 tbsp chopped parsley
salt & pepper
To garnish (optional): a sprinkle of ground flaxseed & chopped parsley
Method:
Preheat the oven to 200ºC or 180ºC fan. Line & grease a baking tray with a little coconut oil (I use the spray variety).
Peel the raw beetroots & cut into wedge shapes approximately 2cm wide & place on the baking tray.
If using coconut oil , melt the coconut oil in a small saucepan. Evenly coat the beetroot wedges with the melted coconut oil, or alternatively, directly coat with rapeseed oil. Roast for 30 mins until the beetroot wedges are cooked through (soft when you poke a fork through them!). Allow to cool.
Whilst roasting, cook the quinoa by rinsing the grains first, then boil for about 20 mins & drain. Allow to cool.
Make the salad dressing, by combining all ingredients together in a small bowl.
Assemble the salad. You can make a concentric pattern or scatter things randomly. For the dartboard look: use about half the dressing to coat the spinach leaves. Arrange the dressed leaves on the serving plates.
Scatter pomegranate seeds & edamame beans around the edges. Spoon the cooked quinoa in the middle.
Arrange the roasted beetroot on top of the quinoa & then chunks of feta cheese/ vegan cheese/ tofu.
Drizzle with the remaining dressing. Optional garnish: sprinkle some ground flaxseed on top to boost the protein, omega, magnesium content. Enjoy!
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Variations:
You can include dried fruit like sliced apricots, cranberries & seeds like pumpkin seeds, sunflower seed to add sweetness & crunch, respectively.
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