
Quinoa and Chickpea Salad with Roasted Beets
The perfect fall salad. Roasted beets are sweet and earthy and they are topped with a mix of quinoa, chickpeas and nutty manchego cheese all tossed in a tangy vinaigrette.
I love adding arugula for a touch of green. The peppery flavor of arugula compliments the rest of the ingredients beautifully.
In the months where the weather changes and it gets cooler, this salad brings a taste of freshness while also carrying warm fall/winter flavors.

This is how I made this Quinoa and Chickpea Salad with Roasted Beets:

Preheat the oven to 350º.
Start by scrubbing the beets throughly.

Tip! I love using a potato scrubber as it helps remove so much dirt and grime.
After they are nice and clean, pat the beets dry.

Drizzle extra virgin olive oil onto the dry clean beets and massage the oil all over each beet.

Wrap each beet in aluminum foil and place on a baking sheet.

Bake the beets for 1 hour or until fork tender. Check on them at the 45 minute mark by giving them a squeeze using a kitchen towel or oven mitt.
For reference, 1lb beets take 1 hour smaller beets will probably require around 45 minutes.

Tip! The bigger the beets are the longer they will take to cook. If you are cooking the beets with plenty of time to spare, let them rest in the aluminum foil until they come to room temperature as they will continue cooking.
While the beets are cooking, start working on the quinoa.
Follow the cooking instructions on the quinoa of your choice, it usually calls for 2 to 1 of water to quinoa. This means 2 cups of water to 1 cup of quinoa.
While the quinoa cooks, let’s start the vinaigrette.
In a large bowl, add the finely chopped chives, dijon mustard, champagne vinegar, honey and good quality extra virgin olive oil.
Using a whisk, mix all the ingredients until they are emulsified.
Season with salt and pepper to taste.

Add the drained chickpeas the vinaigrette.
Add the crumbled manchego cheese to the mix.

Once the quinoa is cooked and rested for 10-15 minutes, add 1 cup to 1 1/2 cups of the cooked quinoa to the vinaigrette mixture.


Tip! Adding the quinoa while it is still warm, helps it absorb the vinaigrette.
When the beets are fork tender, meaning you can pierce them with a fork and it goes in easily, remove them from the oven and let them rest for at least 15 minutes as they will be extremely hot.
Unwrap each beet and using paper towels scrape the skin off of the beets. The skin will peel off easily and smoothly.


Tip! Don’t tug on the skin too roughly as it can make some of the beet brake off of the whole.
Once the beets are peeled, trim off the hairy rough ends and thinly slice them.

Allow the beets to cool down to room temperature.

Tip! If you prefer to have a really cold cold salad, cool the beets in the refrigerator until they are nice and chilled.
How I plate this Quinoa and Chickpea Salad with Roasted Beets:
Arrange the beet slices along the rim of a large round plate. Alternate the golden beet and the purple beet.
Drizzle a little bit of good quality extra virgin olive oil over the beets and season with salt.
Toss the arugula into the quinoa mixture and mix well.
Serve the quinoa salad in the middle of the plate where the beets are arranged.

And that is it! This delicious dish is ready to enjoy!

Equipment
- 1 small baking sheet
- 4 12×12 squares of aluminum foil
- 1 large bowl
- 1 large round plate
Ingredients
- 1 1lb red beet
- 1 1lb yellow beet
- 1 cup cooked quinoa
- 2 tablespoons finely chopped chives
- 1 tablespoons dijon mustard
- 3 tablespoons champagne vinegar
- 1 tablespoon honey
- 1/3 cup good quality extra virgin olive oil plus 2 tablespoons for the beets
- 3/4 cup crumbled manchego cheese about 8 ounces
- 1 can chickpeas drained and rinsed
- 1 cup baby arugula watercress, spinach or romaine lettuce are good substitutes.
- salt and pepper to taste
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 350º.
- Start by scrubbing the beets throughly under running water.
- Pat dry the beets and drizzle extra virgin olive oil onto the dry clean beets.
- Wrap each beet in aluminum foil and place on a baking sheet.
- Bake the beets for 1 hour or until tender.
- While the beets are cooking, start working on the quinoa.
- Follow the cooking instructions for the quinoa of your choice, it usually calls for 2 to 1 of water to quinoa.
- In a large bowl, add the finely chopped chives, dijon mustard, champagne vinegar, honey and good quality extra virgin olive oil.
- Using a whisk, mix all the ingredients until they are emulsified.
- Season with salt and pepper to taste.
- Add the drained and rinsed chickpeas the vinaigrette.
- Add the crumbled manchego cheese to the mix.
- Once the quinoa is cooked and rested for 10-15 minutes, add 1 cup of the cooked quinoa to the vinaigrette mixture.
- When the beets are fork tender, remove them from the oven and let them rest for at least 15 minutes as they will be extremely hot.
- Unwrap each beet and using paper towels scrape the skin off of the beets.
- Once the beets are peeled, trim off the hairy rough ends and thinly slice them.
- Allow the beets to cool down to room temperature. If you prefer to have a really cold salad, cool the beets in the refrigerator until they are nice and chilled.
Platting the Quinoa and Chickpea Salad with Roasted Beets:
- Arrange the beet slices along the rim of a plate.
- Alternate the golden beet and the purple beet.
- Drizzle a little bit of good quality extra virgin olive oil over the beets and season with salt.
- Toss the arugula into the quinoa mixture and mix well.
- Serve the quinoa salad in the middle of the plate where the beets are arranged.
- ENJOY!