Recipe: Grilled Golden Beet Salad With Quinoa and Citrus Dressing

This golden beet salad made with quinoa and a citrus dressing is so flavor-packed, nutritious, and beautiful to boot.

I absolutely love beets. They are one of my favorite foods, so when I spy the beautiful and less common golden beet at the farmer’s market or grocery store, I get really excited to make this salad.

I eat this golden beet salad as a weekday lunch, but it also makes for an impressive side dish when I’m hosting a group. I appreciate how easy it is to whip together and that I can make all the parts ahead of time if I want.

How To Grill Beets

If the thought of cooking beets worries you, fear not! This method of cooking beets couldn’t be more simple. When it comes time to prep this golden beet salad, my favorite way to cook beets is on the grill. You can easily cook your beets in the oven or boiled on the stovetop, but the grill adds another layer of flavor, and they cook quickly.

• Start by peeling your beets with a vegetable peeler. The nice thing about using golden beets is that they don’t stain everything as purple beets do. Pro Tip: buy larger beets; they are easier to peel!
• Cut your beets into even pieces.
• Then put them in a foil packet (I recommend the non-stick tin foil), and toss with olive oil, salt, and pepper.
• Grill the golden beets on a 400-500 degree grill for about 30 minutes, giving the packet a shake and a flip about 1/2 way through.
• You’ll know when they are done when you can easily slide a fork into them.

What Makes Golden Beets Different

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Golden beets have less of an earthy taste than purple beets. They are sweet and have a more mild flavor than purple beets. If you’re serving this salad to someone who claims that they are not to be a beet fan, these tend to be more palatable for those people.

Despite the color difference, golden beets have all the same nutritional benefits as purple beets!

How To Make A Golen Beet Salad

1. 1. Cook quinoa according to package instructions and allow to cool. You can prep this several day ahead if you wish.
   2. Preheat grill to 400 and grill foil packet of golden beets. This step can also be prepared several days ahead of time.
   3. In a large bowl, combine cooled quinoa, arugula or spinach, golden beets, and red onion.
   4. Cut one large orange into four parts and reserve one quarter for dressing. Pull apart the remaining 3/4 orange into bite-sized segments and add to the salad bowl.
   5. Top with pecans or pistachios.
   6. Crumble blue cheese or goats cheese on top

How To Make The Citrus Dressing

• Mix apple cider vinegar and olive oil with juice from reserved orange and toss over salad.