Creamy Roasted Beet Salad
Sweet, creamy, and vibrant are just a few ways to describe this delicious roasted beet salad. It’s packed with flavor due to the garlic, thyme, rosemary, and lemon juice. The sweet potatoes, beets, and carrots make for a naturally sweet touch. The cashews blended make a healthy and ridiculously creamy dressing to complete this dish. Pair it with greens and top it off with crunchy chickpeas and dinner is served! This creamy beat salad also makes a tasty side to a homemade veggie burger.
Nutritional Spotlight
Beets are a good source of fiber, folate, Vitamin C, and potassium. They are high in dietary nitrates, which the body can convert into nitric oxide, a vasodilator that opens blood vessels and allows blood to flow better. This effect may help to lower blood pressure and therefore, improve overall heart health. Though, as Dr. Greger of NutritionFacts.org describes in the video, “Oxygenating Blood with Nitrate-Rich Vegetables”, “we have to eat our vegetables, and keep eating our vegetables” as blood pressure can go back up if we stop eating them. Because of the nitric oxide, beets may as also help improve athletic performance. Since the nitric oxide allows blood vessel to open up, it can improve oxygen delivery throughout the body. For more awesome facts about beets, check out the videos on NutritionFacts.org.
- 6-8 cups beets, diced (about 3-4 large beets)*
- 4-5 cups carrots, chopped (~6 large)
- 2 medium Japanese sweet potatoes, diced (7-8 cups chopped)*
- 2 teaspoon garlic powder
- 2 teaspoon thyme
- 2 teaspoon rosemary
- 1 teaspoon black pepper
- 1/4 cup lemon juice
- 3 cups cooked chickpeas or 2 (15.5 oz) BPA-free cans of chickpeas
- 2/3 cup cashews
- 3/4-1 cup water
- Preheat the oven to 425F. Wash all the veggies well. Chop the beets, carrots, and sweet potatoes into bite size pieces and place on baking sheets.
- In a bowl, combine the spices and lemon juice. Pour the mixture over the veggies and stir (if using two baking sheets, pour half the mixture over each pan). Place the veggies in the oven and cook for about 30-45 minutes, or until tender.
- If using canned chickpeas, drain and rinse well. Pour the chickpeas on a separate baking sheet, and roast for about 30 minutes at 425F or until reaches desired texture.
- In a high speed blender, combine the cashews and water. Blend until smooth. Start with ¾ cup of water and add more water if needed for thinning.
- Once the veggies are finished, pour them into a large bowl and toss them in the cashew cream. Serve the beet salad on greens and top with the crunchy chickpeas.
- Feel free to do a mix of both gold and red beets.
- You can also use purple or orange sweet potatoes. Admittedly, I have not tried this with orange sweet potatoes. However, I did try this with purple and it was great!
- Optional to swap in 1-2 packets of tempeh instead of the chickpeas. If using tempeh, dice into bite size pieces and roast with the veggies and spices.
- If your blender is not overly strong, you may find it helpful to soak the cashews for ½ hour in hot water before blending them. This will help to soften the cashews and make it easier to blend.
