RECIPE: Beetroot, Orange & Quinoa Salad

A super tasty and super good for you summer dish.

Beetroot really (yes, really) is a super food. It is rich in Vitamin C and has a high concentration of nitrates. Through a chain reaction, your body changes nitrates into nitric oxide, which helps with blood flow and blood pressure, boosting stamina, improving blood flow, and helping lower blood pressure. Both the vitamin C and the nitrates get seriously depleted through boiling - just look at the colour of the water when cooked - so steam or roast if you can! Keep the leaves and use as greens in other dishes; if very young, they can go in a green salad, otherwise treat them like kale.

Much of this dish can be prepared in advance and, if you like, in bulk. Both the cooked quinoa and the cooked beetroot cubes will last 4 or 5 days in sealed containers in the fridge, as will the oranges in the orange juice with the zest. It is then just a matter of a few minutes to mix everything together ready to serve.

INGREDIENTS

serves 4

• 250g mixed red & white quinoa with plain white quinoa (there is enough red in the beets!)

• 250g whole beetroot with lengths of roots and stalks left on

• 2 oranges

• dash of cider vinegar with the mother

• olive oil to moisten

• 50g wild rocket (less if very hot!)

• 2 small handfuls of walnut pieces

• 75g smooth goats' cheese (we use Chavrough)

METHOD

1. Mix the quinoa with an equal amount of water, bring to the boil and simmer for 30 minutes; leave to cool. Put into a mixing bowl

2. Either steam the beetroot whole until soft being careful that the water does not reach the steaming basket or wrap the beetroot coated with a little oil, salt and pepper in foil and roast for 30 minutes (or until soft). Leave to cool. Cut off the roots and stalks, wrap the beet in kitchen towel and rub off the skin. Cut into 1 cm cubes (approx) and add to the quinoa

3. Scrape the zest from one of the oranges into the mixing bowl together with the juice of half an orange, keeping just a little juice aside. Peel the remain 1 1/2 oranges into segments without any pith; cut whole segments in half. Add to the bowl

4. Tear the rocket into small pieces and add to the bowl with a splash of cider vinegar and enough olive oil to make moist. Mix well and season well

5. Turn the mixture out into a serving bowl. Add the copped walnuts and goats cheese and pour over the remaining orange juice