Sweet Potato, Beet, and Quinoa Salad

While I know some might be thinking beets and sweet potatoes are fall foods I love them year round. Sweet potato fries on the grill are a staple in our house in the summer and beets well I can’t stop loving those so forget putting a season on those! The way I prepare or eat them however does change with the seasons and as things get warm my salad game gets stronger and this a great one that packs flavor, gives us energy, and fills us up!
You can enjoy this warm or cold but it does take time as you are roasting the sweet potatoes and beets. I find this is a great salad for batch cooking or those who prep ahead. When things get busy and I want to cook a few things ahead roasting sweet potatoes and beets, and cooking quinoa is great as there are so many ways to enjoy them. The quinoa can be used for breakfast, a side dish, in salads or power bowls. Beets are great for smoothies, salads, and power bowls. Sweet potatoes well my oldest and I could eat those all day! You can enjoy them sweet or savory for breakfast, in salads or power bowls, as a side, or as a quick snack if you are like us and just keep sneaking them out of the fridge.
As I have mentioned in many of my recipes they are meant to inspire you. When things get crazy and you are worried about eating healthy think about batch cooking and making ahead what you can. This doesn’t work for everyone, it usually doesn’t work for us, but when things get busy I pick a few versatile staples like beets, sweet potatoes, quinoa, steel cut oats, ect ahead. There are a few times a year this really comes in handy for us. If you want to add protein go ahead and play with the recipe and add protein, add more veggies, whatever suites your nutritional needs and tastes go ahead and play with the recipe and make it your own.

Sweet Potato, Beet, and Quinoa Salad
Makes 4 servings
1c quinoa (Tri Color Organic Quinoa from Trader Joes)
2 large sweet potatoes
4 large beets
10oz baby arugula, or arugula spinach mix (Earthbound Farms Baby Arugula and Baby Spinach Mix)
1/4c stone ground or good quality spicy mustard (inglehoffer Stone Ground Mustard)
1/4c white wine vinegar
1-2 TBSP maple syrup
sea salt and pepper

This salad can be made warm or cold. To make cold you will want to prep ahead of time, which works well with those that batch cook, and cook quinoa and roast sweet potatoes and beets.

Preheat oven to 350F. Cook quinoa according to package instructions. While the quinoa is cooking you can roast your sweet potatoes and beets. Peel beets and sweet potatoes and cut sweet potatoes into 1″ cubes (approximately) and slice or cut beets, depending on size, to about the same size. Line 2 rimmed baking sheet with foil and spray with coconut or olive oil. Arrange beets and sweet potatoes on separate baking sheets. To cook quicker you can cover the vegetables with tin foil. Bake for 30-45 minutes, checking at 30 minutes but cooking time will depend on the size of your beets. When quinoa is done fluff with a fork and set aside to cool. When vegetables are done pull out of the oven and set aside to cool. If wanting to eat this salad right away and you are not cooking ahead let vegetables cool for about 10 minutes, you can make the dressing and prep greens in this time. In a jar or small bowl shake or whisk together mustard, vinegar, and maple syrup. In a large bowl toss together dressing and greens. Add in cooled quinoa, if it’s still a little warm you are fine you just don’t want it hot or it will wilt the greens, toss. At this point you can either toss in your sweet potatoes and beets to mix before plating, however depending on your beets they may get a little color on your sweet potatoes. It doesn’t effect the taste just if you are serving for a get together you might not want to chance that so I thought I would mention that. So either toss vegetables with greens and quinoa and plate or plate greens and quinoa and top with vegetables. Season with salt and pepper. Enjoy!
Simply delicious Sweet Potato, Beet, and Quinoa Salad. #vegan #wholefoods #SweatPink Click To Tweet