xo amys

What’s for lunch honey?!

It is always a good sign when my fiance asks for a second plate of a vegetarian dish, as he is more of those meat-eater types! It just shows that the combination is a good one that leaves you wanting for more! The ingredients in this salad already get me excited because of the health benefits, but the flavours merged together is truly the best! The subtle hint of the roasted garlic sweet potato lingers in the background while the lemon juice soaks into everything leaving a wonderfully refreshing taste to the mouth. This colourful spinach based salad is fulfilling and rich, yet it is packed with fresh light flavours. ‘Are you bored with the salad recipes you’ve tried and crave for new exciting combinations’?’ Well here you go, this salad will get your inspirations flowing and it can be a spin-off to other fabulous combos!

The garlic roasted sweet potato mush and the protein packed quinoa adds a comforting texture that holds all the other ingredients together.  Some crunch from the sprouts and bitterness from the grated carrot and yellow/ red beets.  All of this is balanced out by the salty capers and creamy feta cheese. It will make the perfect friday lunch or dinner and is fancy enough to serve as a side dish at a dinner party!

Ingredients

• 2 dl quinoa
• 1 Medium-sized Sweet Potato
• 3 Garlic Cloves
• Olive Oil
• 2 Cups Sprouts
• 1 Large Carrot
• 2 Yellow Roots
• 2 Beet Roots
• 2 Cups Spinach Leaves
• 1/2 Cup Variety of Toasted Seeds with a pinch of salt
• 150 g Feta Cheese
• 2 Tablespoons Capers
• Maldon Salt/ Ground Black Pepper
• Lemon Juice

Directions

Preheat your oven to 190 degrees Celsius. Peal and roughly chop the sweet potato and place into an oven dish. Stir in the olive oil and chopped garlic. Sprinkle salt and pepper and place into the oven for about an hour until soft. Once ready, mush some the sweet potato with a fork and leave to the side to cool. Meanwhile cook the quinoa (read instructions on packet) by washing it thoroughly and boiling in some water for about 15 minutes with a bit of salt. In a large bowl, mix together the sweet potato and quinoa.

Prepare salad: Grate the red beet in a bowl to the others prevent it from dying everything red. In another bowl add in the grated carrot and yellow beet, spinach leaves, sprouts, crumbled feta and capers. Mix in the quinoa/sweet potato mush. Add in black pepper, maldon salt, a good squeeze of lemon juice and the toasted seeds.  Mix well. Then Gently stir in the red beet.