one of the things i promised myself i would tackle this year is cooking with diffrent kinds of grains (it’s easy for me to fall back on my staple brown rice and ignore all the other delicious and fun grains out there). so yesterday i made this tasty little salad! roasted veggies, quinoa, the perfect dressing: it doesn’t get more simple, healthy or delicious. next time we eat this i’ll serve it on arugala or mix in some watercress to get our greens in there too. yum, yum, yum.

the what:

1 cup quinoa (multi-variety shown)

4 small/medium yellow beets

1 bunch heirloom carrots

evoo

1/4 c white wine vinegar

2 tablespoons high grade amber maple syrup

2 tablespoons dijon mustard

sea salt

pepper

the how:

rinse and cook 1 cup of quinoa (instructions on how to cook quinoa here)

peel and chop beets, chop carrots and coat all with evoo. sprinkle with sea salt and roast for 20 minutes at three hundred and fifty degrees (when you can easily pierce the beets/carrots with a fork, they’re done. adjust time if necessary)

make dressing while the quinoa and veggies are cooking. in a small bowl mix 2 tablespoons olive oil, white wine vinegar, dijon mustard, and maple syrup. add salt and pepper to taste. (this makes more than enough for this salad, reduce recipe if you’re not into leftovers…or make this recipe to use up the extra!)

when the veggies and quinoa are done mix in a large bowl and add salad dressing, sea salt and pepper to taste. i prefer this salad when it’s had some time to chill for a bit and I definitely like it best served on greens.