Golden Beet Salad

This golden beet salad is something I would have never made before this year, but once the idea came to me, I couldn’t get it out of my mind.

Last year I did a monthly salad series, which forced me to create a new salad recipe every month. The series was so natural to how I eat and I loved creating/sharing those recipes (see all those salad recipes). I figured I would continue the practice this year without even really thinking about it.

I was doing pretty well until July and then my cart fell off the track a bit, so we’re back in action (a few months late, but just in time for fall recipes) with this golden beet quinoa salad that’s simple, hearty, and really tasty…

Golden Beet Salad

I’m hoping to start making salads again – especially those with whole grains. This golden beet salad is my recent obsession for dinner side dishes (and leftover lunches), however. I love all the colors and the ease of it all – one pot and the beets cook in with the quinoa.

The most amazing part of this golden beet recipe is that you can change the color of beets. Or you can switch up the type of quinoa for a completely different look. If you want to use red or purple beets, just be ready for the color change. Things will get colorful!

You could easily use a white quinoa to make a red or purple dish. Since these golden beets don’t give off  much color, I used tri-color quinoa. I didn’t want it to look like yellow mush after all. You know, because how a dish looks certainly plays a large part in that first bite! It’s the key to every good salad topping situation!

Golden Beets vs. Red Beets

Red beets are certainly far more common when it comes to beets, but there are actually a few varieties, including golden (varying from yellow to orange) and the striped ones that have a pink and white striped pattern!

All beets offer the same nutrients and healthy goodness.

Golden beets are quite as sweet as the darker red ones, BUT they also aren’t as earthy, so if you’re still getting into beets, you might start here.

The two are interchangeable in recipes too – just beware that the red beets eek out more color. You can use any variety in any of the following LM beet recipes:

BEET & GOAT CHEESE SALAD
FRESH ORANGE SALAD W. BABY BEETS
BEET + CORN SALAD

Fall Vegetable Recipes

It seems so easy in spring and summer to put lots of different kinds of produce together. In fall and winter, it seems the norm to just do one thing, but that absolutely doesn’t have to be the case.

I added spinach into this dish for some extra nutrients and color. You could use any kind of hearty greens, however.

Rainbow chard and kale are both easy options, but I like the spinach since it’s easy to steam in this one pot situation! If I were to add those other greens, I’d likely saute them in another pan to get all their tasty flavor!

Fall Salads

Love simple but scrumptious salads? Try this kale farro salad, swiss chard with ginger (a great side dish), and this persimmon salad.