I’m always looking for new and interesting quinoa recipes. It gets boring to only put roasted vegetables or canned corn with dressing. So when I found a recipe for quinoa with golden beets and raisins, I knew I wanted to try it out, just tweaked a little bit. First of all, I can never find golden beets in the fruit store or supermarket! So I used the regular red ones. Anyway, I like red ones better anyway. Also, the original recipe called for feta cheese. And I don’t like feta cheese, so I left it out.
I have never eaten raw (not baby) spinach. I’m also not sure it really added much flavor to the dish, though maybe that’s because I cut it so small. It did add great color, though. So I still recommend it.
This makes a great lunch dish. It’s filling, pretty, and really delicious. I squeeze some fresh lemon juice over the top right before eating. It makes it a little more refreshing.
Quinoa Salad with Spinach and Beets, adapted from Tyler Florence:
Ingredients:
- 1 cup quinoa, rinsed and cooked
- 5 small beets
- A handful of spinach
- 3 tablespoons raisins
- 2 tablespoons lemon juice
- Salt and pepper, to taste
- 2 tablespoons olive oil
Directions:
1. Preheat the oven to 450 degrees.
2. Scrub the beets and roast for 20-30 minutes, until soft.
3. Let the beets cool and peel (the skin should come off easily with the back of a knife
4. Chop into small cubes and add to the cooked quinoa.
5. Remove the stems from the spinach and chop up into tiny pieces. Add to quinoa.
6. Add raisins and mix.
7. Dress quinoa with olive oil and lemon juice. Taste and add salt and pepper, as desired.
8. Serve and enjoy!
