Warm quinoa salad with cumin, roast beetroot and a creamy mint dressing

NZ Woman's Weekly 26/1/2012

Your
Rating:

Ratings: 5.0 / 5 FROM 1

Quinoa, pronounced “keen-wah”, is one of the most popular foods of South America. Nutritionally, it’s packed with protein, comes in three varieties – white, red or black – and cooks just like rice in around 15 minutes.

Beetroot

(You can click on ingredients to see more related recipes)

900 g	Beetroots, with leaves washed, or 500g tinned baby beetroot
2 tsp	Cumin seeds
1 tsp	Coriander seeds
4 tbsp	Olive oil
3 tbsp	Water
1 tsp	Salt & freshly ground pepper
2 tbsp	Wine vinegar
3 cloves	Garlic
½ cup	Creamy mint & anchovy dressing

Quinoa

2 tbsp	Olive oil
½	Onion, small, diced
2 tsp	Fresh ginger, grated
½ cup	Quinoa
1 cup	Vegetable stock, hot
½ tsp	Salt

Directions

Beetroot

Preheat the oven to 180°C.
Cut off the leaves 2cm above the beetroot, reserving them for the salad.
Place beetroot into two layers of tinfoil, along with the spices, garlic, 3 tbsp of olive oil, water and a generous sprinkling of sea salt flakes. Toss to ensure the beetroot is well coated. Close the foil to make a parcel and place in baking dish.
Bake for about 50 minutes or until the beetroot is tender, then cool a little and peel whilst still warm. Cut into quarters if using larger beetroots.
Pour any baking juices into a small bowl, add the wine vinegar, 1 tbsp olive oil and cooked garlic squeezed out of its skin. Mash together and add a little more olive oil if necessary to form a dressing. Taste and adjust with seasoning.
Toss any reserved beetroot leaves in a little dressing.
To plate, spread mint dressing over your platter, then add the beetroot, spoon over the cooked quinoa and any dressed leaves. Finally, drizzle over any remaining dressing and sprinkle with sea salt and pepper.

Quinoa

Heat oil in a saucepan, add diced onion and grated ginger for 5 minutes.
Add the quinoa, hot stock, cover with a lid and gently cook for 15 minutes, then leave to steam with the lid on for 5 minutes.

Cook's tip: Some quinoa requires less liquid for cooking. If this is the case with the variety you buy, simply reduce the liquid by 20%. Organic quinoa may sometimes take 5 minutes longer to cook. And if you can’t find fresh small beetroot or they’re out of season, simply replace with tinned small baby beets.