Recipe: Beet, spinach & quinoa salad

So, here’s the thing: In theory, I don’t like salad. Stuffing a bunch of leaves into my mouth like a bunny doesn’t particularly appeal to me. However, over the years I’ve played around with different ingredients to create delicious salads that I actually love to eat. I struggle to eat enough vegetables, and a well-rounded salad helps pack a nutritional punch in my day.

Below is my favourite salad. I love beets and spinach, and I find that quinoa makes the salad more filling. Now that it’s spring, I eat this salad almost every day for lunch. I prepare the ingredients in big batches on Sunday, so I have lunches ready for the week.

For each lunch portion, I layer the ingredients in a glass jar in the following order:

1 tbsp salad dressing (my all-time favourite is Little Creek Dressing)

1/2 cup beets, roasted and chopped (I wrap them in tinfoil, roast them whole, then peel and chop into cubes)

1/2 cup butternut squash, roasted and chopped (I buy it pre-cut then roast it – peeling and chopping butternut squash is a pain)

Option: Substitute 1/2 cup chickpeas for the beets or butternut squash, or heck, just add it in!

1/3 cup cooked quinoa

1 tbsp pumpkin seeds

2 tbsp two dried cranberries

Sprinkle of goat cheese (or, you know, a handful)

Two handfuls chopped spinach – I store this in a separate container, then mix it all in a bowl when I’m ready to eat my lunch.

Let me know if you try this one out, and I hope you enjoy!