BEETROOT SALAD WITH CHIOGGIA BEETS

Beetroot salad with chioggia beets is a nourishing and delicious quinoa based salad. This salad is a great and simple way to add nutritious beets in your diet.

What are chioggia beets and how to use them?

Chioggia beets look like they belong to a fairytale – beautifully pink with white stripes. I’m always in awe when I cut one open and see the beauty of nature. The colors fade when cooking the beet, but you can also eat this magical beet raw.

These beautiful beets are a variety of heirloom beets originating from the town of Chioggia in Northern Italy. The flavor is milder than beets, but still has a typical beetrooty earthy flavor. They can be used exactly like beetroot: in salads, soups, roasted with other vegetables, raw in salads, in smoothies, porridges.

What I love about these beets besides the gorgeous color and earthy flavor is that these beets won’t stain your hands, cutting board and food as beetroot does.

How to make a beetroot salad with chioggia beets?

The key to making this delicious beetroot salad is roasting the beets.

Roasted beets are so good. My daughter who is super picky when it comes to vegetables loves roasted beets. It is because roasted beets become sweet when they are cooked until soft (but with a little bite). I usually only use a drizzle of olive oil and pinch of salt to season the beets and then make a proper dressing for the salad.

This beetroot salad is:

• vegan
• gluten-free
• easy to make
• nutritious
• delicious

If you don’t have all the salad ingredients, that is totally fine! You can use other ingredients from your pantry such as chickpeas, pickles, capers…anything which adds a good layer of flavor and texture.

Beetroot salad recipe

• 3 medium chioggia beets roasted with a drizzle of olive oil and pinch of salt
• 1/2 cup of quinoa (before cooking, which is about 2 cups of cooked quinoa) cooked in vegetable broth
• 1/2 cup (or more if you like) cooked lentils (I used beluga lentils, but green and red lentils work too)
• 4-6 raw broccoli florets
• 1 cup shredded cabbage
• 1/3 cup olives
• 1/3 cup sundried tomatoes

Dressing

• 2 tbsp roasted sesame oil
• lemon juice 1 tbsp
• tamari or soy sauce 1 tbsp
• grated fresh ginger 1 tsp
• 1/2 tsp coconut sugar
• 1/2 tsp onion powder
• 1/4 tsp garlic powder
• pinch of salt (or to taste)

Optional

• vegan seed and/or nut parmesan
• fresh ground black pepper and chili flakes
• more lemon juice if needed for flavor balance

Preheat oven to 400 F / 200 C. Chop the chioggia beets into small bite size pieces. Toss with olive oil and sprinkle salt on top. Bake on a baking sheet covered with parchment paper for about 20-30 minutes or until soft, but not too soft. The baking time varies depending on the oven and the size of the pieces.

Cook quinoa:

1. Rinse quinoa with water.
2. Bring water to a boil in a saucepan.
3. Add vegetable broth powder to the boiling water and then add rinsed quinoa.
4. Let the quinoa simmer under a lid in low heat for about 15 minutes.
5. Remove from heat and keep the lid on for another 5 minutes before serving the quinoa.

Chop broccoli, cabbage, olives and sundried tomatoes. Mix dressing ingredients.

When the chioggia beets are roasted and quinoa is cooked, make the salad by mixing all ingredients together including salad dressing.

Enjoy this nourishing beetroot salad with chioggia beets!

If you want more fall salad inspiration take a look at this delicious Kale Pumpkin Salad with Vegan Parmesan

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