Baby Beet and Quinoa Salad

I love making the Baby Beet and Quinoa salad featured below. It’s not only beautiful to look at but amazingly nutritious as well. The Ancient Romans used beets as an aphrodisiac. They contain the mineral Boron, which is related to the production of human sex hormones. Beets also purify your blood, naturally cleanse and detoxify your body.

Enjoy this Baby Beet and Quinoa Salad

Baby Beet and Quinoa Salad

Rebecca Forstadt Olkowski

Red beets and quinoa make a colorful as well as nutritious salad.

Print Recipe Pin Recipe

Course Salad

Ingredients

  

• 2-4 Small beets yellow and red depending on their size (save the leaves and stalks)
• salt
• 1 cup Quinoa
• 2 cups water
• 1 Tbsp chopped chives
• 4 scallions green onions sliced thin
• 1/2 tsp fresh ginger peeled and minced
• 2 cloves garlic peeled and minced
• 2 Tbsp soy sauce get low sodium
• cilantro fresh chopped can substitute parsley
• 2-3 Tbsp extra virgin olive oil
• 1/2 lemon squeezed
• 1/2 tsp coarse Dijon mustard
• 1 clove garlic peeled and minced
• salt and pepper

Instructions

 

Beets

• Cut the stalks off the beets. Rinse with water. Place in a saucepan covered with water and bring to a boil, Simmer until tender. (about 15 minutes) When done, rinse with cold water to cool. Rub the skins off and cut into thin circles or cube.

Quinoa

• Rinse quinoa and drain. Bring 2 cups of water to a boil in a small saucepan. Add the quinoa, lower the heat to simmer, cover for about 15 minutes or until the water is absorbed. When done, set aside.

Beet Leaves and Stalks

• Tear or cut the beet leaves and stalks into bite-sized pieces.
• Heat 1-2 Tbsp of extra virgin olive oil in a skillet or stir-fry pan.
• Add the beet leaves, stalks, chives, scallions, ginger, and garlic and stir-fry for about 2 minutes until the leaves wilt.
• Add the soy sauce and mix into the vegetable mixture for 1 minute.

Assemble the Salad

• In either a large flat dish or individual salad plates, cover the bottom of the plate with the cooked quinoa.
• Put the stir-fried vegetable mixture on top of the quinoa
• Arrange the beets decoratively on top.
• Garnish with chopped cilantro

Garlic Vinaigrette Salad Dressing

• In a jar or small bowl add 1 part extra virgin olive oil to 3 parts lemon juice
• Add minced garlic, mustard, salt, and pepper to taste
• Drizzle over the salad

Most people cut off the leaves and stems and throw them away. However, they’re equally nutritious and have a piquant taste. I included them in the recipe.

A beet fact, if you didn’t already know.

Don’t be alarmed if you go to the bathroom and think you’re bleeding to death. It’s just the red color of the beet that’s traveled through your digestive system. The reason I mentioned this is because my son was juicing with beets and almost had a heart attack when he went to pee.

Have an acid stomach?

Try this test. Eat red beets or drink beet juice. If your urine turns pink, you have low stomach acid. If it’s clear, your stomach is acidic. See a doctor right away if your urine is blood red. It could be a sign of hemochromatosis. (meaning you have too much iron in your body)

What’s your favorite way to eat beets? Please leave a comment below.