Quinoa and Beet Salad
1 lbs
some 2 cups 3 cups 1/4 medium 1 clove 1/2 t 1/4 cup 2 T 4 t 1 t 1/2 cup 1/4 cup 1 medium 1/2 cup 5 or 6 to taste |
beets
olive oil, salt, pepper quinoa water onion - minced garlic - minced salt lime juice olive oil dijon mustard ground cumin shredded carrots sunflower seeds red bell pepper - small dice feta - crumbled basil leaves or 1/4 cup cilantro - minced salt and pepper |
- Wash and peel the beets. Cut into 1/2" chunks. Sprinkle beets with olive oil, salt, and pepper.
- Roast at 350 until done. I typically tent with foil so that air can move over the beets and I use our toaster oven on convection. Cook these any way you like. Roasting will concentrate their flavor and slightly caramelize the surfaces.
- Set aside to cool.
- Rinse the quinoa well in a sieve and let it drain.
- Toast in a dry pot on medium heat for roughly 5 minutes stirring often.
- Add the rest of the second set and simmer covered until done, roughly 15 minutes.
- Spread quinoa over a baking pan or cookie sheet to cool.
- Whisk 3rd set in a small bowl to form the dressing.
- Gently mix everything together, saving beets and feta for the end so that it's not all pink with broken feta.
- Serve cold. Taste fine if made a day or two ahead.
- Note: On 3/21/14 we mixed about 3 or 4 cups of cooked brown rice with a few shredded carrots and a 1/2 batch of this dressing and it was great. Served it cold.
- Yield: 10 to 15 as a side dish
- Source: Modified from Cook's Illustrated
Category: American Modified 4/22/14