Red Quinoa with Beets, Radicchio, Radish and Red Onions {recipe}

Red Quinoa with Beets, Radicchio, Radish and Red Onions

There is nothing particularly interesting about this recipe, not even a special dressing, just olive oil and lemon juice. The point is more that it's all red.

Great as a side dish, or on its own with some sauteed tofu thrown in for protein.

serves about 2

INGREDIENTS

2 cups cooked red quinoa (how to cook quinoa here; I always throw mine into the rice cooker)
2-3 red beets
canola or grapeseed oil for roasting, about 2 tablespoons
red onion, sliced paper-thin lengthwise, about a handful
fresh radishes, sliced and halved
half small head of radicchio, shredded
1 tablespoon olive oil (to start, you may add more to taste)
1 teaspoon fresh lemon juice
salt and pepper

DIRECTIONS

Preheat oven to 400°F.

Remove greens from beets. Scrub beets. Cut into quarters, rub with a little bit of canola or grapeseed oil. Roast in oven until just tender, about 30 minutes. Remove from oven. When beets are cool enough to handle, peel the very out layer of skin. Cut roasted quarters into smaller ¾-inch pieces.

Place red onions in a small bowl of very cold water. You can do this before you start the beets to let them sit int he water for the same amount of time the beets roast.

In a large bowl, toss the quinoa with the roasted beets, completely drained red onions, a handful of sliced radishes, a couple of handfuls of shredded radicchio, 1 tablespoon olive, 1 teaspoon lemon juice, and a few dashes each of salt and pepper.

Taste and adjust seasoning with olive oil, lemon juice, salt and/or pepper.

Serve at room temperature, or even slightly warm (from the beets). Leftover will keep for about two days in the refrigerator tightly covered.