GRATED BEETROOT, EDAMAME & BROCCOLI SALAD

Another grated salad for this week, this time featuring one of my favourite vegetables: Beetroot. I used to think that beetroot was a bit of a bitch to cook, however the health benefits of this root vegetable make its cooking time well worth it. 

Beetroot contains magnesium, iron, potassium, fibre, protein, antioxidants, vitamins A, B6, C and folic acid, among other vitamins and minerals! This purple vegetable plays a part in reducing blood pressure and the risk of heart attacks and strokes due to its high content of nitrates, which create a gas called nitric oxide in the blood that increases the size of blood vessels and lowers blood pressure. Beetroot also reduces the risk of osteoporosis, as it contains the mineral silica that supports the body to use calcium. This wonderful vegetable is basically fat free, low in calories and has a very low GL index, which means that it transforms into sugars very slowly in the body, hence stabilising blood sugar levels. Beetroot is comprised of soluble fibre, which has been shown to lower cholesterol. Beetroot also contains carotenoids and flavonoids, which prohibit bad cholesterol from accumulating in arteries. And an astounding benefit: a recent study revealed that the immense amount of nitrates in beetroot may be responsible for fighting the advancement of dementia, as one of the functions of nitric oxide in the blood is to increase blood flow to the brain.

So after that considerable list of only a few of beetroot's numerous health benefits, I suggest you get some in you!  

Ingredients

Salad

• 2 medium beetroot, skin peeled and cut in half
• 1 tablespoon olive oil
• al foil
• 1 broccoli head, chopped into even-sized florets & stalk chopped
• 200g edamame, shelled & pods discarded
• 20g coconut flakes, toasted or raw
• 15g sunflower seeds
• 15g pepitas

Tahini Sour Dressing

• 1/4 cup apple cider vinegar
• 1 heaped tablespoon tahini
• 1 garlic clove, finely chopped or crushed
• 1 tablespoon olive oil
• sea salt 

Cooking 

1. Preheat a fan forced oven to 200 degrees celsius. Wrap each beetroot half in foil and place in a medium deep baking tray with 2-3cm of water and 1 tablespoon olive oil in it. Roast in the oven for 35-45 minutes or until the beetroot halves are tender (that is, a knife can easily slide through them). Remove from the oven, remove from foil when cool enough to handle and leave to cool for a few more minutes. Once the beetroot is cool, grate the beetroot using gloves. 

2. Whilst the beetroot is roasting / cooling, make the dressing by combining all of the ingredients and whisking well. If the tahini is still clumpy after whisking, add a splash or two of water. 

3. Use the beetroot cooking time to shell the edamame from their pods, as well as cutting the broccoli and steaming it; bring a medium half full saucepan of water to the boil and place the broccoli florets and stalks in a sieve or colander on top of the pan. Steam for around 5 minutes, covered, or until the broccoli is just tender but not soggy. Remove from heat. 

4. Place the grated cooked beetroot, cooked broccoli, edamame, coconut, sunflower seeds and pepitas in a large serving bowl and toss to combine. Drizzle the tahini dressing over the top. 

Serves / 4 as a light meal
Total Preparation & Cooking time (as the preparation can be done whilst the cooking is happening) / around 1 hour. 

x Emily 

SWEET BROCCOLI SALAD with EDAMAME & QUINOA

This recipe is straight from the Arthur Street Kitchen cookbook ‘Community’ and is the tastiest way I have ever eaten quinoa! Initially I did not fancy quinoa much, so I have tried my hand with this grain in various ways, so trust me when I say that I have eaten it a lot. The sweet sauce is a revelation and whilst the ingredients may sound strange together, they work beautifully to create a slightly sweet, faintly sour and a somewhat nutty dressing. I have kept the recipe very similar to the original, just omitting all the oil and nigella seeds (as they are difficult to source). Black sesame seeds are delicious and can be found in all health food stores. Mirin is a sweet rice wine, similar to sake but with a lower alcohol content and a slightly sugary taste. Mirin seasoning is much more accessible, hence why I used it and is available from all major supermarkets. If you cannot find it, you can substitute it with rice wine vinegar. The edamame quality may look odd (227g), but it is exactly half of a standard packet of edamame that you can buy from all major supermakets (454g) in the frozen food aisle. This unique salad is great as a filling lunch and is impressive enough to be served as a vegetable dish at a dinner party. I myself ate it for dinner last night with a boiled egg on top.

P.S- Probably a good idea to explain what edamame is as well! Edamame is a type of bean commonly found in Taiwanese  Chines, Japanese, Indonesian and Hawaiian cuisine. It is a green soybean that are boiled or steamed and served with salt. They have recently found increasing popularity as a healthy food item, due to it's high iron (for a plant food), it's protein content and its substantial levels of vitamin C & A. 

Ingredients

• 1 cup quinoa (170-200g) 
• 1g (a pinch) of stevia
• 2 heads of broccoli (around 1kg), cut into similar-sized florets, with the stalks cut into small pieces
• 227g frozen edamame beans, thawed & podded
• 2 heaped tablespoons white sesame seeds
• 2 heaped tablespoons black sesame seeds
• a handful of fresh coriander leaves, washed 

Sweet sauce

• 3 tablespoons tahini
• 1 medium garlic clove, crushed or finely chopped
• 1 teaspoon soy sauce
• a pinch of sea salt
• 1 heaped tablespoon honey
• 1 tablespoon apple cider vinegar
• 2 tablespoons mirin seasoning 

Cooking 

1. Rinse the quinoa well with cold water. Bring a medium saucepan of lightly salted water to the boil with the quinoa. Once boiled, reduce the heat to a simmer and simmer for 8-10 minutes or until the quinoa has absorbed all the water. Turn off the heat and leave the quinoa in the pot for 8 minutes, covered. After this time remove the lid and fluff the quinoa with a fork. 

2. Meanwhile, bring another medium / large saucepan of water to the boil, adding a pinch of sea salt and the stevia to the water. When boiled add the broccoli and cook for 3 minutes or until just tender. Add the podded edamame beans to the boiling water and cook for 1 minute, then remove the vegetables from the heat and drain in a large colander under cold water. 

3. Make the sweet sauce by whisking all the sauce ingredients together as well as a few tablespoons of water. You want the consistency of the sauce to be quite runny and easy to pour onto the salad, so carefully add more water as you see fit. The sauce should taste slightly sweet from the honey, slightly sour from the vinegar and a tad nutty in flavour from the tahini. 

4. Place the quinoa on a large serving plate or in a large bowl. Add the broccoli edamame mixture and 1/2 of the sesame seeds and toss well to combine. Sprinkle the remaining sesame seeds and coriander leaves over the salad and pour the sauce on top. Enjoy! 

Serves / 4 - 6

Total Preparation time / 15 minutes 

Total Cooking time / 30 minutes maximum 

x Emily