Cooking tends to be a fairly intuitive process for me; it’s rare that I will stick to a recipe and I have been known to start cooking without fully having decided what the finished meal will actually be. Recipes are more something to look at when I need inspiration or if I don’t really know what I fancy. Well I woke up this morning with a craving for quinoa, perhaps half as a result of having dreamt about stale food during the night (no idea) and half from knowing there’s a half bag of quinoa sat unloved in my cupboard.

After browsing Pinterest for a good half hour before getting out of bed, I’d also decided I fancied beetroot and as a result I stumbled across this recipe. I love the look of the beetroot burgers (and will definitely be making them sometime!) but for now I just took the idea of finely chopped kale mixed in with the quinoa. Another amazing recipe I found is this one. Beetroot and goat’s cheese is a dreamy combo but for today, it was the idea of chopped coriander mixed into a quinoa salad that did it for me. So, armed with a few ideas I stocked up on the ingredients I’d need and here’s the result…

The flavours of the quinoa strike the perfect balance between the fresh zingy flavours of the herbs and lemon with the depth of the truffle oil. Honey and balsamic vinegar give the beetroot a delicate sweetness, mixed seeds add texture and crunch.

Ingredients

For the quinoa:

200g Quinoa, cooked

1 tbps Truffle olive oil (or regular olive oil)

1 shallot, finely chopped

1 red onion, finely chopped

3 cloves garlic, crushed

Handful of mushrooms, chopped

200g Kale, finely chopped

2 tbsp Fresh coriander, finely chopped

2 tbsp Fresh parsley, finely chopped

Juice of one lemon

Black pepper (plenty of)

Hungarian paprika (just a pinch)

Heat the olive oil in a frying pan on a medium heat, add the shallots and red onions, gently fry for around five minutes until they are softened. Add the garlic and mushrooms, stir for a few minutes until the mushrooms begin to shrink. Turn down the heat, add the curly kale, stir on the heat for a further few minutes. Once the kale has wilted, add this mixture to the already-cooked quinoa along with the coriander, parsley, lemon juice, pepper and paprika. Stir well until all ingredients are thoroughly mixed.

For the beetroot:

1 tbsp olive oil

3 large beetroot, cooked and chopped into mid-sized chunks

1 tbsp maple syrup

2 tbsp balsamic vinegar

Black pepper

Handful of mixed seeds (I used a mix of sunflower, pumpkin, linseed & sesame)

Heat the olive oil in a frying pan on a medium heat, add the beetroot, cook for a few minutes stirring frequently. Mix the honey, balsamic vinegar, and black pepper together in a bowl, add this to the cooking beetroot. Cook for around four-five minutes, stirring constantly, until the liquid has evaporated. Add the mixed seeds to the pan and mix well to lightly coat the beetroot chunks.

Serve the beetroot atop the quinoa salad and add coriander to garnish. I made this as a big batch to have for lunch over the next few days.

This is my first ever recipe post – would love to hear what you think! Feel free to comment below^^