Purple Quinoa!

You have to love purple quinoa!  The roasted beets give the quinoa this awesome color.  You want the quinoa and beets to be cold when you assemble the salad, so I usually cook the quinoa and beets the day before.

2 cups water + 1 t. Better Than Bouillon (or just use broth instead of water)
1 cup quinoa
3 beets, roasted, cooled, and cut into cubes (about 2 cups)
1/2 - 3/4 cup feta (packed in brine), crumbled
1/2 cup nuts (I used roasted pistachio but toasted pine nuts would be good too)
1 T. minced fresh shallot
2 T. olive oil
1 T. sherry vinegar (red or balsamic should work too)
Juice of 1/2 lemon
Kosher salt

Bring the water to a boil, add the Better Than Bouillon (I use vegetable) and the quinoa.  Bring back to a boil, reduce heat to simmer, and cover.  Cook for about 15 minutes or until all of the water has absorbed.  Fluff with a fork and let cool completely.

To roast beets:  Cut off the green tops, leaving about a quarter of an inch.  If you cut the tops off completely, the beets will "bleed".  Dry the beets and wrap them individually in foil packets.  Place on a baking sheet and bake for 45 minutes to an hour at 375 degrees.  Use a knife to see if they are done.  Knife will insert easily when done.  Let beets cool completely.  When you're ready for the beets, use your hands to remove the skin and then cut off the top.  The skin comes right off if you do this when they are cold.  I use gloves!

In a large bowl, combine the oil, vinegar, lemon juice, shallots and salt.  Add the cubed beets.  If you have time, let the beets marinate in the oil mixture, up to an hour.

Add the quinoa, nuts, and crumbled feta, and mix well.  Serve cold. 

Goat Cheese and Roasted Beet Bites

I roasted some beets the other night so I decided to use some of them in an appetizer.  I cut up some bite-size pieces and let them marinate in balsamic vinegar for an hour.  Then I mixed room-temperature goat cheese (4 oz.) with a little lemon juice and fresh chopped tarragon.  I baked some frozen mini phyllo cups (15 per package) and let them cool.  Then I put a dollop of goat cheese in each cup and topped with a piece of marinated roasted beet. 

See my Purple Quinoa recipe for instructions on how to roast beets.  So good!