Golden Beet Salad

All you need to make this golden beet salad are 11 simple ingredients:

1. golden beets – if you can’t find golden beets, you can use red beets OR even pre-packaged steamed baby beets (this would cut down on cooking time!)
2. quinoa – can be swapped with different grains, like farro or couscous
3. arugula – can be swapped with a different leafy green, like baby spinach, baby kale, or a spring mix
4. walnuts – can be swapped with a different nut, like pecans, or seeds, like pumpkin seeds
5. parmesan – can be swapped with goat cheese or feta, or use a vegan/dairy-free alternative of any of these cheeses!
6. olive oil
7. red wine vinegar
8. honey – use maple syrup for a vegan alternative
9. dijon mustard
10. garlic powder – or use freshly minced garlic
11. dried thyme – optional if you don’t have it on hand, but adds a nice touch!

Full ingredient measurements and detailed instructions are located in the recipe card at the bottom of this post!

Curious to know how to get beets to be that nice, silky-soft texture? The trick is to wrap them in foil prior to placing them in the oven! The foil traps the steam from the beets and cooks them to perfection.

This method is also super easy to do. Using golden beets, instead of red, also makes for a much easier clean-up as the colour is easier to work with 🙂

To start, give each of your beets a good scrub under running water. Remove any stems, greens, or hard ends.

Then, tear a piece of foil that’s large enough to wrap around one beet. Place the cleaned beet in the center of the foil, and wrap the foil around the beet tightly.

Repeat with the remainder of the beets, then place them all on a baking sheet. The baking sheet will catch any drips or leaks.

Next, transfer the baking sheet to the oven and allow to cook for 40 minutes at 425F.

Remove the tray from the oven, and unwrap the beets to check on them (if they’re all the same size, you only need to unwrap one of them).

To see if the beets are cooked, try piercing them through the center with a knife, fork, or toothpick. It should slide through easily, with little resistance.

If they’re not quite ready, simply wrap the beets up again and return them to the oven for another 10 or so minutes, checking again until they’re ready!

Once done, remove the beets from their foil packaging and allow to cool slightly. The next step is to remove the skin, and you’ll need to be able to touch the beets to do so.

With a paper towel, hold one side of the beet with your hand. Using your other hand, take the loose edge of the paper towel and gently wipe the skins away. They should slide off super easily!

Continue this method to remove the skin from the entire beet, and repeat with the remainder of the beets.

Once the skins are removed, you can slice the beet into roughly 1-inch pieces (or smaller, as desired). Your beets are now ready to add to your salad!

This salad is already a great source veggies, complex carbs, and healthy fats! It also provides some protein in the form of quinoa, walnuts, and parmesan.

That said, if you’d like to make this salad a more filling meal, you can totally add an extra source of protein to it! Something like hard-boiled eggs, turkey, or chicken would work great.

This recipe also makes a great side salad to accompany any dinner spread 🙂

If you’d like to prep this salad ahead of time, here are my recommendations:

1. Cook + cut up the beets as written, then store them in an airtight container in the fridge. Cooked beets will keep for 3-5 days in the fridge.
2. Cook the quinoa and keep it in a separate airtight container in the fridge. Cooked quinoa will keep for 5 days.
3. Make the dressing in a jar with a lid, and store that in the fridge as well.
4. You can also pre-grate the parmesan if you’re using fresh parmigiano-reggiano.
5. When you’re ready to serve the salad, simply mix all the ingredients above with fresh arugula and walnuts!

Need help cooking quinoa? It’s one of my go-to grains to prep and I’ve got an in-depth post on how to cook it perfectly HERE!

From a nutrition standpoint, golden beets are very similar to red beets. Their different colouring is simply due to a different makeup of plant pigments.

Red beets get their colour from pigments called betacyanins, while yellow beets get their colour from betaxanthins. These pigments are known as phytochemicals, which are known to support our overall health (many of them have antioxidant properties).

Beyond these properties, one cup of beetroot provides about 15% of your daily fiber needs, along with micronutrients like:

• vitamin C
• iron
• vitamin B6
• magnesium
• potassium
• folate

Beetroots are also known for their dietary nitrate content, which your body converts into nitric oxide. 

Nitric oxide helps to dilate your blood vessels, increase blood flow, improve exercise endurance, and even to lower blood pressure.

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Did you give this Golden Beet Recipe a try? Let me know by leaving a comment and recipe rating below!

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