The first signs of spring are starting to show this week – buds on tree branches, Canadian geese migrating home, squirrels bouncing about, and birds chirping delightfully among the tree tops. It really is a beautiful thing to witness. One stroll through the park and it’s clear that this renewal we feel during spring is common to all walks of life. I just want to soak it all in. On Sunday, we spotted thousands of geese migrating home, all in various v-shape formations across the sky. It was so fascinating to watch, I headed home and read up about Canadian geese online. I must say, they are pretty cool birds (even if I do have to dodge all their poop on walks). Not only do they typically mate for life, but they also tend to come back to the same area every year. Romantic and directionally savvy? Those females have it made!
I’m finally craving salads after a long stretch without giving them much room in my diet over the winter. I just don’t crave salads in the winter no matter how hard I try. My body is now looking for fresh, lighter foods in hopes that the weather will follow suit. This week, it seems to be working…but I won’t hold my breath. We all know how quickly that can change!
I recently started to play around with a new type of miso – Chickpea miso. Oh, it’s good…real good. I’m avoiding soy right now as I try to figure out my recent allergic reaction and chickpea miso is a great alternative (I hear they also make a chickpea tamari too!). This one is pleasant and lightly sweet much like soybean light/white miso varieties. I couldn’t find it anywhere nearby so I ordered it online via Upaya Naturals. Of course, feel free to substitute your favourite miso in this dressing or if you don’t have miso why not play around with making an orange vinaigrette?
Featuring all new, protein-packed salads, hearty toppers, flavour boosters, and dressings you'll want to drink, my new cookbook will transform the way you think about salads. Oh, and be sure to flip to the back for a surprise dessert chapter!
Golden Beet Salad with Shallots, Parsley, and Orange Miso
Yield
4 servings
Prep time
Cook time
Total time
This salad is a nice compromise for early spring; it’s not too summery or light, but warm and hearty while still being refreshing. I combined roasted golden beets and caramelized shallots with warm quinoa, fresh parsley, and juicy orange segments all topped with an orange miso dressing. The steps for this recipe are a bit fiddly and there is a long roasting time, but if you find yourself with a lazy weekend morning, it really is a nice salad to pull together for lunch
Ingredients
For the salad
- 3-4 medium golden beets
- 10 small shallots
- 1 cup uncooked rainbow quinoa
- 1.5 cups vegetable broth
- 2 small seedless navel oranges, segmented and chopped (see note)
- 1/2 cup minced fresh parsley
- handful finely chopped pistachios, for garnish (optional)
For the orange miso dressing (makes 1/3 cup)
- 1/3 cup orange juice
- 1 tbsp toasted sesame oil (or olive oil)
- 1-2 tbsp light miso dressing (I used 2 tbsp chickpea miso), to taste
- 1 medium garlic clove, peeled
- 1/2 tsp minced fresh ginger
- 1/2 tsp cane sugar (or maple syrup), or to taste
Directions
- Preheat oven to 375°F and line a dutch oven or heavy-bottomed pot with a piece of parchment paper.
- Trim beet greens, leaving 2-3 inches of the stem on the beet (this prevents the beet from drying out while roasting). Note: If you buy loose beets without stems this is fine too. Use what you can find. Reserve beet greens for sautéing, if desired. Wash beets, but do not peel them.
- Place beets inside the pot. Drizzle on olive oil and sprinkle with salt and pepper. Roll around the beets to coat.
- Soak shallots in a bowl of water for a few minutes. This helps to loosen the skin. Slice both ends off the shallots and then peel all the skin off each. Place a piece of tin foil on the counter (about 1 square foot) and place the shallots on top. Drizzle with olive oil and sprinkle with sea salt and pepper. Rub the shallots to combine. Gather the tin foil at each side and crinkle it upward to seal the top. Place shallots in the pot along with the beets.
- Place lid on pot and roast beets and shallots for about 1 hour at 375°F.
- Meanwhile, cook the quinoa. Rinse the quinoa in a fine-mesh strainer and place it into a pot along with 1.5 cups of vegetable broth. Bring to a low boil, reduce heat to low-medium, and cover with tight fitting lid. Simmer for 17-20 minutes covered, or until all the water is absorbed. Remove from heat and let stand for 5 minutes. Fluff with fork.
- Prepare the dressing by processing together all the dressing ingredients. I like to use a mini processor for my dressings because the clean-up is minimal. You could also whisk everything together by hand too.
- After 1 hour, remove pot from the oven to check on things. Remove the shallots and set aside on the counter (keep the tin foil on so they stay warm). Carefully, prick the largest beet with a fork. If it slides easily through, it’s ready. If your fork feels resistance, it needs more time in the oven. I had to cook my beets for about 1 hour and 25 minutes, so don’t be alarmed if it takes you more time.
- Remove beets from oven, remove lid, and allow beets to cool until they can be handled. Trim both ends of the beet and discard. Run water over beets and peel the skin off with your fingers (the skin should slide off fairly easily) and then slice beets into bite-sized pieces for the salad.
- To assemble the salad: Toss together the cooked quinoa, chopped parsley, Herbamare or sea salt, and a couple tablespoons of the dressing. Gently fold in the shallots, segmented oranges, and beets. Drizzle on the rest of the dressing, sprinkle on pistachios (optional), and serve immediately.
Tip:
Note: For how to segment an orange, see this You Tube demo.
Nutrition Information
(click to expand)
Happy, hoppy almost weekend!
This looks divine! I’ve been meaning to buy some miso but last time I was at Whole Foods they didn’t have the kind I wanted. I love the golden betters for spring!
It needs to be spring. Now. I can’t cope with much more of this cold. Just a little bit longer until we’re in Portland, where it better be warm! All I’m sayin’.
WOW! This salad looks mouthwatering delicious!! I’m definitely gonna make this one and take it with me in the office for lunch! Many thanks for sharing!!
You are amazing – I make something of yours at least 2 times a week.
Thanks so much!
Thank you Eric, so happy to hear that!
Hi Angela,
I have a question about body acceptance, not dieting, and eating healthy. Within the past 2 months, I’ve been making a slow transition from dieting and hating my body to body acceptance. I have reached a point where I want to love my body at any size, stop dieting, and accept my “happy” weight. I started reading “When Women Stop Hating Their Bodies” and it’s really helped me so far. The problem I’m having is, recently I began the transition to a vegan lifestyle and I’m worried that it will turn into another diet in disguise. I’m lactose intolerant, so when I cut out dairy I started feeling immensely better. I stopped eating meat because of the animal cruelty. I love the idea that we can survive without having kill animals.
My nervousness comes in with this; last week I decided to read “Wheat Belly”. I had/have no intention of following the book’s dieting advice. I just wanted to find out if wheat was actually healthy or not. Now that I’ve become vegan, I realized that food has the power to make me feel good after eating or bad. Since reading the book, I decided I want to cut out wheat too. This where it gets sticky; the book also says that corn starches and rice starches spike your blood sugar more than wheat does. So I want to cut out those too. Now I’m like “wait a minute is this becoming a diet??”
My desire is just to feel good after eating. I’ve been so used to feeling like crap after eating, that when I went vegan and started feeling much better, I got addicted to that feeling (I should also mention that when I first went vegan, I stayed away from wheat breads without even meaning to because I was avoiding eggs and dairy). I also wonder if I might have a wheat intolerance or not. Plus, I want to avoid soy as well since the jury is still out on if its good for you.
Anyway, the point is, I’m really trying to love my body and accept it at any weight. Do you have any guidelines on how to eat healthy without letting it become about weight? How you keep it being about loving yourself and your body? I know I want to have dessert & other indulgences, but still treat my body as well as I can in regards to eating (aka eating desserts that are as healthy as possible, etc).
Can you share your thoughts or any advice on this topic?
Thanks!
Abby
Hey Abby,
Firstly, I want to applaud you for your decision to overcome the dieting and body hating mindset. I know from personal experience it’s a long journey that often has many ups and downs along the way. It can be done though and I know you are going to get there too. It’s uniquely complex – this struggle us women have with body acceptance and food. I would suggest seeking out a professional who specializes in this area to talk to. I still believe to this day it was the main reason why I was finally able to recover – doing it alone can be difficult. Not to say that it can’t be done (of course it can), but that was my own personal experience. It sounds like you might benefit from having someone to help you with this. If you do have a food allergy or suspect that you do, it might be worth getting tested. Goodluck with everything and keep me posted how things are going, ok? Feel free to email me anytime press[at]ohsheglows[dot]com
OMG that looks so delightful. I can’t wait to try this one. :)
[ Smiles ] This is a nice one, Angela.
Beets are on my “to try” list this year. I have been skeered for too long, I tell you!
Oh man this looks amazing and such gorgeous colors! I need to get some of that chickpea miso into my life asap, I have walked by it too many times at the store. Next trip. Thanks for another great recipe.
I love all of the flavor combinations in this dish!! I’ve never tried golden beets, but I’ve been obsessed with purple beets lately!
I’m curious about the chickpea miso! This salad looks absolutely delish!
MMMM…. the eye candy is giving me a diabetic eyesight.. ;)
Do you think I can use purple beets instead? Unfortunately, I havent been able to find the golden kind anywhere near NY.
I live in Costa Rica and have never seen these golden beets, will definitely try to find them!
I am loving this healthy salad. I wish you were my personal chef!
Wow, this looks delightful! I am a huge fan of warm salads these days, the weather is just not warm enough yet for hugh jass cold salads yet! Ohhh, and I’ve seen chickpea miso before but haven’t bought any yet, very intrigued!
This sounds SO lovely Ange! I love beets, shallots and miso so this is sounding SO appealing right now! I haven’t seen chickpea miso in any local stores either, but you’ve got me curious now. Like you, my bod is SO ready for spring. Fresh salads and herbs are exactly what I’ve been craving these days!
This looks amazing–the orange miso dressing looks like it would be great in other dishes, too!
Yum! This dish looks healthy and so tasty. Great idea!
I love hearty salads like this. Still light, but fill you up!
That miso sound so good and I love that white platter! Your pictures are just beautiful! Hope you get to the bottom of your allergies!