Coleslaw with raw beets and carrots served over quinoa and topped with apple, pumpkin seeds and cranberries.
The inspiration for this coleslaw came from a couple of different places. The first was from a trip we took to Ste. Anne’s Spa in Grafton back in September for our 8th wedding anniversary. At lunch one day there was a cabbage salad served with a vinaigrette over quinoa. It was lovely but I prefer a richer dressing with cabbage. The second source of inspiration came from Jamie Oliver’s recent cookbook, Jamie’s Great Britain. He used a mayonnaise-based dressing on a huge pile of cabbage, carrots and beets that he ran through his food processor and then dressed them with mayo, mustard, cider vinegar, Worcestershire sauce, etc.
Jamie suggested walnuts as a topping but I thought the pumpkin seeds would be really pretty against the pink coleslaw. The apple and dried cranberries give it a nice balance with their sweetness. The quinoa makes this a lovely, complete lunch or light supper. I liked the quinoa still warm but it could be served cold.
Yields 4-6
Coleslaw with raw beets served over quinoa and topped with apples, dried cranberries and pumpkin seeds. This is great for a healthy, light lunch or as a starter for hearty dinner.
Save RecipeIngredients
- 1 cup quinoa
- 2 cups water
- generous pinch of salt
- 1/4 of a green cabbage
- 1/4 or a red cabbbage
- 3 beets, scrubbed clean or peeled
- 2 medium carrots
- 1 apple
- 1/4 cup pumpkin seeds
- 1/4 cup dried cranberries
- 1/4 cup mayonaisse
- 2 tbsp cider vinegar
- 1 1/2 tsp whole grain Dijon mustard
- 1 tbsp olive oil
- pinch of pepper and sugar (skip the salt)
Instructions
In a medium saucepan, bring the water, quinoa and pinch of salt to a boil. Stir and reduce it to a low simmer, cover and let it cook until all the water has been absorbed. Approximately 20 minutes.*- Set it aside. The quinoa can be served warm or cold.
- Whisk all the salad dressing ingredients in a small bowl and set aside.
- In a food processor fitted with a course grating attachment (not the blade), press the cabbage through to grate it. Empty the cabbage from the food processor into a large bowl. If you don't have a food processor then finely slice the cabbage to get thin strips.
- Peel the carrots and then run them through the food processor to grate or use the course side of a box grater. Add the grated carrots to the bowl with the cabbage.
- Scrub the beets using a course nylon scrubber (looks like steel wool but is coloured plastic) or peel the beets.
- Run them through the food processor to grate or again, the course side of a box grater and add them to the bowl with the other grated vegetables.
- With a knife, finely slice the apple into thin, finger length shoestrings. Set the apple aside to use as a garnish for the finished salad.
- Toss the cabbage with the dressing. It will all turn pink because of the beets.
- Spread some cooked quinoa on a plate and top it with the dressed coleslaw. Sprinkle some pumpkin seeds, dried cranberries and apple on top. Do this for each serving. Enjoy.
Notes
*The quinoa that I use has been pre-rinsed. If you are not sure if what you have is pre-rinsed, run it under cold water in a fine-meshed sieve for one to two minutes otherwise it will be quite bitter when cooked.
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