Roasted Beetroot & Quinoa Salad with Feta

Name: Roasted Beetroot & Quinoa Salad with Feta
Total time: 50 min
Yield: 4
Ingredients: 500 g raw beetroot; 200 g quinoa; 100 g feta; 50 g walnuts; 4 tbsp olive oil; 1 orange; 1 tbsp balsamic vinegar; 60 g rocket; 1 tsp (about 7 g) honey

Beetroot roasted in its skin until it is sweet rather than earthy, tossed through quinoa with orange, feta and toasted walnuts. Mostly oven time.

VegetarianMeal prep

A wide bowl of pale quinoa stained pink in places, with deep red beetroot wedges, crumbled white feta, walnut halves and rocket leaves, dressed with an orange vinaigrette.

Servings: 4
Total time: 50 min
Hands-on: 15 min

What you need

Roasting tin
Saucepan
Small dry frying pan

Ingredients

500 graw beetroot— scrubbed, not peeled, in wedges
200 gquinoa— weighed dry, rinsed well
100 gfeta
50 gwalnuts
4 tbspolive oil
1orange— zest and juice
1 tbspbalsamic vinegar
60 grocket
1 tsp (about 7 g)honey— or maple syrup

How to make it

Heat the oven to 200 °C. Toss the beetroot wedges with 1 tablespoon of the oil and salt, cover the tin tightly with foil and roast for 30 minutes, then uncover and roast 10 minutes more. Covered first, uncovered second: the steam cooks it through, the dry heat caramelises the edges.
Rinse the quinoa under cold water for a good 30 seconds. The coating on unrinsed quinoa is genuinely bitter, and it is the reason people think they dislike quinoa.
Cook the quinoa in twice its volume of salted water for 15 minutes, then take it off the heat, cover it and leave it for 5. Fluff it with a fork — the grains should have burst open with a visible spiral.
Toast the walnuts in the dry pan for 3 minutes and break them roughly.
Whisk the remaining olive oil with the orange juice and zest, the balsamic and the honey, and season.
Fold the warm quinoa with two thirds of the dressing, then the beetroot. Add the rocket, feta and walnuts only at the table — rocket wilts in warm dressing and feta disappears into the quinoa if you stir it in early.

Per serving, roughly

Energy: ~490 kcal
Protein: ~13 g
Carbs: ~44 g
Fat: ~24 g

These are estimates calculated from standard ingredient values. Your numbers will shift with the exact products you buy and with how generously you fill the plate — oil, sauces and cheese move them the most.

Variations

Vegan

Leave out the feta, use maple syrup instead of honey and add 150 g of cooked puy lentils. About 20 kcal more and roughly the same protein per portion, with a firmer texture.

Coach's tip

A salad that genuinely works as a lunch you look forward to, at 13 g of protein — honest about needing something alongside it on a training day. Cook the beetroot and quinoa on Sunday and it assembles in three minutes for three days.

More recipes

Other recipes worth a place in your week.

MealsWarm Puy Lentil Salad with WalnutsLentils dressed while still hot so they drink the mustard vinaigrette, with toasted walnuts, red onion softened in vinegar and a lot of parsley.MealsGreek Salad with Grilled HalloumiTomatoes salted first so they make their own dressing, chunky cucumber, olives, raw onion and halloumi griddled until the outside squeaks. No lettuce.MealsRoast Vegetables with Crisp Chickpeas & TahiniCauliflower, carrots and red onion roasted until the edges blacken, chickpeas crisped alongside, lemon-tahini sauce poured over while it is still hot.

General information only, not medical or nutritional advice. If you have a health condition, an allergy, or specific dietary needs, talk to a qualified professional.

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