Check out my latest video! I was feeling a little silly so I thought I'd make this video while I was acting like a goof. Check it out and let me know what you think!

I’m all for the easy meals that don’t take much time. But during the holidays when there are others involved, I like to put in a little more effort and make something that’s healthy and delicious. This Quinoa Beet salad is my go to for times like this. So I happened to film myself making it in my van for a Christmas dinner with some of my friends. A little more involved that most of my meals but still pretty simple to do.

A couple things to note: you can make it even easier by buying pre steamed beets. I’ve seen them at Safeway in the produce section. That bypasses the messiest and most time consuming part of this recipe which is slicing and braising the beets. You can also buy pre chopped walnuts to finish off the meal that much faster!

Check out the video below on how I make this holiday must!

Quinoa Beet Salad Recipe

Ingredients:

• 1-2 Fresh beets  OR pre-streamed beets
• 1 cup of quinoa, tricolored is preferred but any kind will work
• 1-2 oz of baby arugula
• 4 ounce goat cheese log
• 1/2 cup of chopped walnuts
• Balsamic vinegar for dressing or if you want to get fancy, use a balsamic reduction

Directions

1. Cook the quinoa in two cups of water on the stove in a pot with a lid or using a rice cooker.
2. While that’s cooking, start slicing/chopping the beets. The main goal is to get the beets as small as possible to steam them faster.
3. Then add them in another pot with a little bit of water and cover. Check often until the beets are soft enough to mash.
4. Mash them up with the water with a fork until there are only small bits of beets left.
5. You can bypass this whole beet step by buying pre-steamed beets at the grocery store.
6. Once the quinoa is fully cooked, add the mashed beets to the pot and mix it all together.
7. Top the salad with arugula, chopped walnuts and crumble the goat cheese over it.
8. Lastly, drizzle the balsamic vinegar all over the top.

 

And that’s it! A great addition to any group meal! Let me know in the comments below what you think and how it worked out if you give it a try!

As of late, I’ve had a… hunger, if you will, for nutrition and finding out how food affects the body. Due to my own recent discovery of a health issue and that of a lot of my friends lately, it has become my new obsession.