Beet and Clementine Salad with Mixed Greens and Quinoa

​So I don’t get super excited about salads all too often.  They are more of a necessary thing that I eat and enjoy and enjoy for lunch.  So we decided to make this for dinner which now expectations go up a notch, I mean you are competing with fancy prepared proteins, roasted veggies, pasta and all that other good stuff that we normally indulge in for our dinners.  This salad Nailed It!  Satisfying, filling, and great flavors!

Ingredients

Salad Ingredients

• 2 cups pickled beets cut into bite size pieces
  
• 3 clementines
  
• 2 cups prepared quinoa
  
• 6 cups mixed greens
  
• 1/4 cup toasted slivered almonds
  
• 1 tbsp. coconut oil
  
• 2 tbsp. goat cheese (optional, but not really)

Dressing Ingredients

• Juice of 1 lemon
  
• Juice of 2 clementines
  
• 1/4 cup olive oil
  
• 1 tsp cumin
  
• 1 garlic clove​
  
• Season with salt and pepper

Directions

Quinoa Directions

1. 1 cup dry quinoa cooked in 2 cups of chicken or vegetable stock.  I also added some of the lemon rind to the pot while cooking to infuse a little more citrus flavor.  Combine all ingredients, bring to a boil, cover, reduce heat to low for 25 minutes.

Salad Directions

1. Sautee the beets in 1 tbsp. of coconut oil for 8 minutes, season with salt and pepper.
2. Peel and cut and half the segments of 1 clementine.
3. Toast the almonds in a small pan over medium heat on the stovetop.  Toss frequently, should take roughly 5 minutes.

Dressing Directions

1. Combine all ingredients other than olive oil in a blender and blend until garlic clove is no longer.
2. Slowly stream in the 1/4 cup of olive oil while blender is going to create an emulsion.

Combining Everything

1.  Mix 2 cups of the cooked, warm quinoa into the mixed greens.  This will wilt the greens ever so slightly.
2. Dress the greens and quinoa mixture with an appropriate amount of dressing, we had a little leftover based on the numbers that I mentioned above.
3. Dish up half the salad mixture on each plate, then top with roasted beets, clementine sections, and toasted almonds.  I came up with this recipe on a whim and didn’t have goat cheese to add to it otherwise that would have for sure been on top.