Bonjour my friends, I'm Frankie and welcome to Club Foody! From one year to the next, we, at Club Foody,
like to start the New Year off on the right foot. With all our resolutions, the best way to begin
a new chapter is by eating a healthy salad! In the past, I shared some amazing ones like
my Asian Chicken, Winter Citrus Salad, Julienne, classic Cobb and now here's another one... In today's
episode, I'll show you how to make my Quinoa Beet Salad! Mmm! What a great recipe!
I love it for its health benefits and simplicity plus the delicious combination of ingredients!
With a nice orange vinaigrette, this is a tasty salad to enjoy all year round... So my friends,
let's get cooking! The first thing we'll do is to steam the beets but you can always boil,
roast or bake them. Click on the top right corner of your screen on different ways to cook and prep
these incredible vegetables. When they're done, we'll plunge them in an ice water bath to cool
them before peeling off the skins. Meanwhile we'll start cooking the quinoa that has been pre-soaked.
On the website, I explain this easy process. So to this, we'll add 2 cups of water and a little bit
of salt. We'll stir well, bring it to a boil then cover and reduce the heat to low. We'll cook for
15 minutes or until the liquid is all absorbed. We'll let it sit, covered, for 5 to 8 minutes
while we're making the vinaigrette. In a measuring cup or a bowl, we'll add grapeseed oil, orange juice,
some balsamic vinegar, then honey but you can always substitute with agave nectar.
To this, we'll also add orange zest and a little bit of Dijon mustard. We'll season
with a tiny pinch of cayenne and the same with ground sea salt and freshly ground black pepper.
The next ingredient is optional and it's shallots. We'll whisk the ingredients until well blended
then we'll transfer to the fridge until we're ready to eat. So back to the quinoa... Using a fork,
we'll fluff it up and look how nice the quinoa is... perfectly cooked plus nice and plump!
We'll let it cool off some more while we prep the salad. In a large bowl, we'll add lettuce -
I'm using romaine but others like butter, iceberg even spinach are good substitutes -
then we'll add English cucumber, segments of mandarin orange, some chopped walnuts,
a little bit of celery, and the quinoa when it gets to room temperature. We'll gently toss the
ingredients together until they are well mixed... what a beautiful salad but we're not done yet!
There's more yumminess to add to this. So we'll sprinkle on a little cayenne pepper,
the same with ground sea salt as well as freshly ground black pepper and quickly toss again. To this
we'll add the beets that we're cubed into bite-sized pieces. And last but not least,
the goat cheese - we should add about 5 to 5 1/2 ounces and keep a little
as a garnish and you'll understand why. As soon as we start tossing, everything will turn pink.
Hey, I love that color so I don't mind but it's nice to have a little contrast.
Next, we'll pour some of our vinaigrette on top, toss and repeat as desired... And my friends, this
is our Quinoa Beet Salad! Colorful, healthy and delicious, it's a great recipe to add to your list!
With superfoods like quinoa and beets, this is an excellent choice for a healthy lifestyle!
This tasty salad can not only be served as an appetizer but as a meal as well...
I hope you give it a try soon and be sure to visit clubfoody.com for ingredient amounts, directions
and more info... Until next time my friends, bon appétit!