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I’ll have to ask you to forgive me for any typos today. I’m blaming the baby.

Skye has put herself on a new schedule for the last few weeks.

This new schedule involves skipping her afternoon nap, falling asleep way too early, getting up at 11 and 2:30 and then waking up again at 4:45am and refusing to go back to sleep until after I’ve fueled myself with coffee and it is much too late for me to get any more sleep. (Usually around 7am.)

Needless to say, we are a little tired around here. It is like having a newborn again, only instead of snuggling all day I get to chase after a busy girl that is full of energy and creeping around a house that has yet to be baby proofed.

Lucky for her she’s cute.

When you are this tired, there is only one thing that is going to make you feel better. Good, clean food. Today’s salad, brought to us by Renee from Nourish the Roots is just the kind of thing I need to power through the day when I’m sleep deprived. Aren’t those veggies just beautiful?

Wishing you a wonderful Sunday!

Roasted Root Vegetable Quinoa Salad

Author Renee

Ingredients

For the Salad:
7 small beets peeled and cut into cubes
2 large carrots peeled and cut into cubes
2 large parsnips peeled and cut into cubes
1 large onion peeled and thinly sliced
3 cloves garlic minced
olive oil for roasting
sea salt
1 cup walnuts lightly toasted in a dry skillet
2 cups cooked quinoa 1 cup dry quinoa yields 2 cups cooked
1 cup cooked chickpeas
1 large handful cilantro or parsley roughly chopped
3 handfuls of mixed salad greens
For the Dressing:
3 tablespoons dijon mustard
2-3 tablespoons white balsamic vinegar or lemon juice
2 tablespoons honey or pure maple syrup
4 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
a few pinches of salt to taste

Instructions

Preheat oven to 350. Toss the carrots and parsnips with a few tablespoons of olive oil and a few pinches of salt. Spread them on half of a parchment-lined baking sheet. Toss the beets with olive oil and salt and put them on the other half of the lined baking sheet. (Keeping the beets separate from the carrots and parsnips helps to prevent all of your vegetables from turning red from the beets).
Combine the onion and garlic with some olive oil and salt and put them on a separate parchment-lined baking sheet. Put both pans in the oven and roast for about 45 minutes to an hour, or until the root vegetables are tender and the onions are soft. Remove from the oven and let cool slightly.
In the meantime, combine the cooked quinoa, cooked chickpeas, salad greens, cilantro (or parsley), and walnuts in a large bowl. Add the roasted vegetables to the bowl and toss lightly just to combine. Serve on plates or bowls with lots of the delicious honey dijon dressing poured over top.
Dressing
While the vegetables are roasting, combine all of the dressing indredients in a bowl. Wisk until the dressing is emulsified. Alternativeley, add all the dressing ingredients to a small mason jar, screw the lid on tightly, and shake well. Taste the dressing and adjust to your liking (add more mustard, more honey, more olive oil, etc...) Pour the dressing over the finished salad and enjoy!