Posted July 2, 2014
By Natural Vitality Living
Give the romaine a break and your taste buds a treat with this refreshing salad featuring the oft-overlooked salad green watercress. Rich in vitamins C and K, and plentiful in antioxidants, this green that grows in water, not dirt, makes for a great salad. Here, we add sweet and earthy beets, and quinoa offers protein. We like the color that the sweet striped Chioggia beet provides, but any beets will do. Pine nuts and feta round out this entree salad, but you can easily skip the cheese if you desire a vegan option.
Watercress, Beets, and Quinoa Summer Salad
Ingredients
Salad:
1 cup dried quinoa
1 handful of watercress
1 small Chioggia beet
2 small yellow beets
1/2 cup of toasted pine nuts
Feta to garnish (omit if vegan)
Dressing:
1 tablespoon ume plum or red wine vinegar
Juice of 1 medium lemon
1 garlic clove, minced
Pinch of sea salt
Pinch of pepper
1 tablespoon olive oil
1 cup water
1 teaspoon Dijon mustard
Instructions
1. Place yellow beets in a glass baking dish and roast for 20 to 30 minutes at 375 degrees until tender.
2. While yellow beets are roasting, place all dressing ingredients in a blender, blend together and set aside.
3. Thinly slice Chioggia beet and set aside.
4. Make the quinoa according to manufacturer’s directions.
5. Toss together Chioggia beet, pine nuts, watercress, and salt and pepper.
6. Toss roasted beets with quinoa and half of dressing.
7. Add Chioggia beet, pine nuts, watercress and remaining dressing to top of quinoa; garnish with feta cheese and serve.
© 2014 Natural Vitality Living