Roasted Beetroot Carrot Quinoa Salad with Spiced Yogurt Dressing

Sweet and crunchy root vegetables roasted to their perfect sweetness, tossed with fluffy quinoa and a zingy dressing to bind it all together! The roasted veggies with the spiced yogurt are wonderful on its own. But, when you add quinoa to that, it becomes a filling meal.

📝 Ingredients

• 3 beetroots (I saved some beetroot leaves to add in the salad)
• 5 carrots
• 3 teaspoons oil
• 1/2 cup quinoa
• 1 cup chicken/veg broth (you can use water too)
• 10 cherry tomatoes
• 12 grapes
• 1/4 cup walnut
• 1 teaspoon coarsely ground cumin seeds
• 1 teaspoon coarsely ground fennel seeds
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• Few slices of halloumi cheese
• 1/2 cup thick plain yogurt
• 2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
• 1 teaspoon cumin powder
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1/4 cup (finely chopped cilantro leaves)

👨‍🍳 Instructions

1. 1Preheat the oven to 400F.
2. 2Massage the beetroots with 1 teaspoon oil and wrap them in an aluminum foil. Place in the middle rack and roast for 40 minutes. Once done and cooled enough to handle, open the foil carefully as the hot steam will come out. Trim the edges of the beetroot and slice into wedges.
3. 3Trim the edges of the carrot and peel them. If the carrots are small, slice them in half. If the carrots are big, cut into multiple long strips. Layer the carrots and the beetroots in a baking sheet. Drizzle 2 teaspoon oil on it and sprinkle the spices along with the salt.
4. 4Preheat oven to 400F and roast for 25 minutes.
5. 5In the meantime, cook the quinoa. Rinse the quinoa in a fine mesh sieve multiple times and then, transfer to a saucepan. Pour the stock or the water to the pan and bring it to a boil at high heat. (If you are using stock that has salt, you don’t need to add any. Otherwise, add ½ teaspoon salt). Once it comes to a boil, bring the heat to medium and simmer for 15 to 20 minutes or until the stock/water is absorbed. Switch off the heat and set the pan aside covered for 5 minutes. Then, fluff it with a fork.
6. 6For the dressing, just put the yogurt, oil, cilantro, salt and cumin powder and whisk it.
7. 7Once the root vegetables are roasted, take it off and keep it ready to be served
8. 8Just before serving the salad, pan fry the halloumi cheese on a hot pan for 2 minutes on each side.
9. 9Layer the quinoa, roasted beets and carrots along with halved cherry tomatoes and grapes. Layer the pan-fried halloumi cheese, drizzle the dressing on top and scatter few walnuts.
10. 10Serve!