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Heart(y) Beetroot and Macadamia Salad

Beetroot would have to be the prettiest veggie right? Even if you aren’t rapt in the earthy taste, you’ve got to dig the pinky-purple vibes.

That’s why I love cooking with beets. They make meals damn attractive. I also love that thanks to their nitrate status, beets boost exercise performance, lower blood pressure and improve endothelial dysfunction (Lidder & Webb, 2012).

Combine that with the monounsaturated fats found in macadamia nuts and their buttery cold-pressed oil (Griel et.al, 2008) and voila – a scrummy side-dish that gives your heart a little extra lovin’.

So what if it’s May? It never hurts to have a good saladgasm, even if the weather has gotten a little cooler. Follow the meal with a warm herbal tea and you’ll be good as gold!

Hearty Beet and Maca Salad

This vibrant salad serves 4 as a light meal on its own or 6 as a side dish paired with extra greens (lettuce, avocado, steamed broccoli, green beans etc.) and your fave source of protein (crispy salmon, homemade falafel, lentil burgers, baked chicken thighs, etc.)

  • 2 cups cooked and cooled rice or quinoa
  • 1 bunch baby beets, scrubbed and cubed, leaves reserved
  • 2/3 cup macadamia nuts, left whole
  • 1 cup snow peas, chopped
  • Coconut oil, for roasting
  • Olive oil, for dressing
  • Salt and Pepper, to taste
  • Fennel seeds, to taste

Preheat oven to 170 degrees and line a baking tray with baking paper. Toss beets in melted coconut oil and roast for 45 minutes until soft, crispy and cooked through.

Meanwhile, sauté your beet leaves in a wee bit of olive oil and season to taste. Feel free to toss your nuts through the pan to lightly toast them.

Toss roasted beets through rice with snow peas, beet leaves and macadamias. Drizzle over a wee bit of olive oil and season to taste. Finish with a sprinkling of fennel seeds.

*Lidder & Web (2012). Vascular effects of dietary nitrate (as found in green leafy vegetables and beetroot) via the nitrate-nitrite-nitric oxide pathway. British Journal of Clinical Pharmacology, 75 (3), 667-696

**Griel A, Cao Y, Bagshaw D, Cifelli A, Holub B, Kris-Etherton P (2008). A macadamia nut-rich diet reduces total and LDL-cholesterol in mildly hypercholestereloemic men and women. The Journal of Nutrition, 138 (4), 761-7