Quinoa Salad with Beets, Green Beans & Olives

        From the blog For Love of the Table

4 medium-sized beets (about 2- to 2 1/2-inches in diameter), trimmed

Vinegar, to taste (whatever kind you prefer—red wine, white wine, sherry or balsamic)

Salt & pepper, to taste

2 to 3 T. olive oil, divided

1/2 c. walnuts

1 c. diced onion—use what you have, spring onions (with some of the green) or summer onions (that have not yet developed a papery skin)

1 clove garlic, minced

1 t. (scant) cumin seed

1/2 t. fennel seed

1 c. Quinoa, rinsed and drained

1 1/4 c. water

1/2 lb. green beans, trimmed and cut on an angle in 2-inch lengths

1/2 c. pitted Kalamata olive, halved lengthwise

1/4 cup mint, cut in a fine chiffonade

Lemon juice—to taste

Scrub beets and place in a shallow baking dish. Add a quarter inch of water, cover tightly with foil and transfer to a 375° oven. Roast until tender to the tip of a knife—this will be anywhere from 45 minutes to an hour and fifteen minutes, depending on the beets. Uncover the beets and let cool. When cool enough to handle, trim the stem and root away. Rub the skin off using a paper towel. Cut the beets into 8 wedges and place in a small bowl. Taste. If the beets aren't very sweet, drizzle a little vinegar over them...this will accentuate their sweetness. Season with salt and pepper. Set aside. (See notes.) When ready to put the salad together, toss the beets with a drizzle of olive oil.

Spread the walnuts in a small baking pan and toast in a 350° oven until golden and fragrant—about 5 minutes. Cool. Break into medium-coarse pieces, drizzle with a small amount of olive oil and toss with some salt. Set aside.

Place the cumin and fennel in a small sauté pan and toast until fragrant over moderate heat. Watch carefully so that the spices don't burn. Transfer to a plate to cool. Grind with a mortar and pestle and set aside.

Warm 2 T. of olive oil in a medium sauce pan set over moderate heat. Add the onion along with a pinch of salt and sweat until onion tender—about 5 minutes. Add the garlic and spices and cook briefly (a minute or two) until fragrant. Add the quinoa and continue to cook and stir until the grain is well-coated with the oil, lightly toasted and hot through—2 or 3 minutes. Add the water, along with some salt, and bring to a boil. Reduce the heat, cover and cook, until tender—12 to 15 minutes. Let rest, covered and off of the heat, for 5 minutes. Spread the quinoa on a sheet pan to cool.

While the quinoa cooks, blanch the green beans in a pan of boiling salted water until tender. Lift the beans out of the water and spread on kitchen towels to cool.

When all of the components are done (and cool/cold), place the quinoa, green beans, walnuts, olives, mint and golden beets in a large bowl and toss to combine. Taste and correct the seasoning with salt, pepper and lemon juice, if you like. If the salad seems dry, drizzle with some olive oil and toss again. If you are using red beets, wait to toss these in until just before serving the salad. Because they have been tossed with a bit of olive oil, they will not bleed as badly, but they will still bleed a bit. Adding them at the end, just before serving, will prevent them from coloring the salad too much. Serves 3 or 4 as an entrée; serves 6 as a side.

Notes:

• The beets can be made ahead and refrigerated. I used both red & gold beets. If you use both, you must roast them in separate pans or the red beet will stain the gold beets.

• If serving as an entrée, add 4 hard cooked eggs, cut into halves or quarters. Or, serve with plain yogurt.

http://www.forloveofthetable.com/2012/06/two-grain-salads-for-early-summer.html