Roasted Beet and Root Vegetable Salad with Quinoa

May 26, 2013 by Mackenzie

We made this salad to accompany the Gnocchi in Tomato Vegetable Sauce from the other night. This recipe was also from The Smitten Kitchen Cookbook and again, she gave us another great recipe!

The highlight of this salad are the beets – as you can see, their brilliant color makes this dish both eye-catching and mouth-watering! The one significant change we made was doubling the quinoa so there was a more even ratio of vegetables to quinoa, which made it more of a salad than purely a vegetable side dish. In the end, that was a great choice and we loved every bit of it!

Beet and Root Vegetable Salad with Quinoa
Serves 4-5
Recipe from The Smitten Kitchen Cookbook

Ingredients:

Salad:
1 cup uncooked plain quinoa, rinsed
Coarse salt
3 small shallots
Olive oil
1 1/2 lbs mixed root vegetables (radishes, turnips, parsnips, mixed beets, carrots…), as small as you can find them, scrubbed, trimmed and halved to be one to one and a half-inch cubes or so
Juice of 1/2 lemon
Freshly ground black pepper

Dressing:
2 tablespoons sherry vinegar
1 tablespoon balsamic vinegar
2 big pinches of coarse salt
3 tablespoons olive oil
Freshly ground black pepper

Directions:
1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees.

2. Prepare quinoa: bring the quinoa and 2 cups salted water to a boil. Cook for 10-15 minutes, until quinoa has absorbed water – may be longer with more quinoa. Set aside.

3. Roast vegetables: while quinoa cooks, prepare the vegetables. Peel shallots and separate cloves. Make a small foil packet and place the shallots inside, drizzling them with olive oil. Place on a rack in the oven to begin roasting them.

Meanwhile, coat a baking sheet with olive oil and place the root vegetables in a single layer on the sheet. Drizzle with olive oil, squeeze the lemon juice all over and sprinkle generously with salt and black pepper. Roast for 20 minutes in oven, then flip the vegetables and roast for an additionally 10 minutes.

4. Prepare vinaigrette: when vegetables are done, remove them from the oven and set aside. Remove the shallots from the foil packet and place in a blender with the sherry and balsamic vinegars and two pinches of salt and some pepper. Drizzle in some olive oil and blend.

5. To assemble: spoon the quinoa onto a platter and arrange the beets on top. Drizzle entire dish with vinaigrette and serve immediately.

Lemon Couscous Salad with Asparagus and Tomatoes

May 15, 2013 by Mackenzie

I made this salad to go along with the caprese grilled chicken on Saturday night from my last post. My family and I love asparagus so this was a fun, new way to serve it. The lemon juice made it light and summery and the fresh asparagus and tomatoes helped cap off this healthy side dish.

Ingredients:
6 oz whole wheat pearl couscous
3/4 lb thin asparagus spears, tough ends snapped off
1 tomato, diced
1/4 cup red onion, minced
1 large lemon, juiced
1 tablespoon extra virgin olive oil
2 tablespoons fresh parsley, minced
Salt and Pepper to taste

Directions:
1. Boil a large pot of salted water. Add asparagus and cook until tender, 3-4 minutes. Using tongs, remove the asparagus from the water and in a strainer, run cold water over them to stop them from cooking.

2. Cook couscous according to package directions. Drain and rinse under cold water when finished cooking.

3. While couscous is cooking, chop the asparagus into 1/2 inch pieces. Add the tomatoes. Add the cooked couscous, red onion, lemon juice, olive oil, parsley and salt and pepper. Mix it up and then refrigerate for 15 minutes or until chilled. You can serve it room temperature, but I liked it best chilled.

Winter Salad with Sweet Potatoes, Pomegranate Seeds, Goat Cheese and more!

December 6, 2012 by Mackenzie

Libby and I made this salad for dinner last night and it was oh so good!! Libby made it up so I’m giving her all the credit 🙂 It’s awesome and will definitely be made again soon!

Winter Salad

Serves 2

1. Peel sweet potatoes and cut into 1 inch chunks. Toss with olive oil and salt and pepper and bake until tender, about 25 minutes.

2. To make the vinaigrette, whisk together: 1/2 tsp dijon mustard, 1 tsp of brown sugar, 1/8 cup of balsamic vinegar, 1/4 cup of olive oil and salt and pepper. We eyeballed these ingredients and did our best just now to think of how much we used… so definitely taste and see if it needs more of anything.

3. In a large bowl, add mixed greens, walnuts, goat cheese, pomegranate seeds, dates, sweet potatoes and vinaigrette! Serve with a piece of toast with honey butter.

photo-16

Corn, Zucchini, Green Chilies and Lime Salad

July 25, 2012 by Mackenzie

A couple of weeks ago, Tom made his delicous chicken tacos (recipe to come at a future date!) and put me in charge of a side dish. I found this recipe via pinterest and it looked good so we went for it!

And boy was it a success! The flavors were a fantastic mix – sweet summer corn, citrus from the lime, and intensity from the garlic and cilantro… It definitely has a kick to it though so beware of how much of the jalapeno you put in 🙂

Corn, Zucchini, Green Chili and Lime Salad

Recipe adapted from gluten-free goddess recipes

Serves 6

Ingredients:

2 tablespoons olive oil

4 smallish zucchini squash, sliced into half moons

3 ears of fresh corn, kernels sliced off

3 ripe plum tomatoes, seeded, diced

1/2 cup roasted mild green chile, chopped

4 oz. chopped jalapenos

4-5 cloves fresh peeled garlic, chopped

Sea salt, to taste

Lemon pepper, to taste

2-3 good pinches of ground cumin

A drizzle of raw agave sweetener

Juice from 1 fresh large lime (more juice or water, if needed)

3 tablespoons chopped fresh cilantro

Lime wedges for serving

Directions:

Prepare all ingredients (chop, slice, etc). Do it now, because it all comes together fast and you need to be ready!
Heat the olive oil in a large skillet and saute the squash for three to four minutes, until it starts to turn a bit golden. Add the corn, tomatoes, green chile, jalapenos, garlic, sea salt, lemon pepper, cumin, a drizzle of raw agave, and lime juice; stir to combine.
Cover and cook for about 15 minutes, until the veggies are tender-crisp. Add more liquid if needed. To serve, stir in the fresh cilantro. Top with lime wedges.

Lentil Quinoa Salad

May 26, 2012 by Mackenzie

To go along with our Hearty Whole Grain Basil Bread and Brown Butter Parmesan Chicken Penne we made a lentil quinoa salad.

Lime zest in the dressing gave the vinaigrette a bold flavor along with the fresh cilantro. It was a delicious, refreshing, summer salad!

Lentil Quinoa Salad
(Recipe from foodnetwork.com)
Serves 4

1/2 cup quinoa
1 1/4 cups water, plus 2 cups
1/2 cup lentils
1 tsp. Dijon mustgrard
2 Tbsp. red wine vinegar
1/4 cup vegetable oil
1/4 tsp. garlic powder
1 lime, zested
Salt and freshly ground black pepper
2 green onions, chopped
1/4 cup. chopped fresh cilantro leaves

Put the quinoa in a sieve and rinse in cold water. In a large microwave-proof bowl with a cover, add the rinsed quinoa and 1 1/4 cups water. Cover and microwave on high for 9 minutes. Let it sit for 2 minutes then stir. Quinoa should be tender enough to eat, but with a little “pop” upon biting.

Put the lentils in a sieve and rinse in cold water. In a saucepan, simmer the lentils in 2 cups water unitl the lentils are tender, but not mushy, about 30 minutes. Drain and cool.

In a small bowl, whisk the mustard and vinegar together, and drizzle in the oil to make an emulsion. Add the garlic powder, lime zest, and salt and paper – to taste.

To assemble the salad: in a medium salad bowl, mix the quinoa, lentils, green oninos and cilantro. Top the salad with the dressing, toss to coat and serve. (If you have the time, let is sit – mixed together – in the fridge for 30 minutes so that the lentils and quinoa absorb the dressing).