Beet Walnut Salad

This beautiful beet walnut salad with maple balsamic vinaigrette is full of flavour and texture and perfect for a healthy meal on a warm Summer evening. The salad features nutritious red cabbage, walnuts, beets, carrot and raisins on a bed of spinach and arugula. This recipe is vegan and gluten-free.

Eating for Nutrient Density

Grated beets and carrots are some of my favourite salad ingredients and I always include a big batch in my weekly food prep. They’re perfect for adding to salads and both are full of of antioxidants, vitamins and minerals.

One thing I like to keep in mind when creating meals is nutrient-density. I like knowing the food I’m eating is providing me with the energy, vitamins, minerals and macronutrients I need to stay healthy and active.

Consistently choosing nutrient-dense, whole foods over nutrient-poor, highly processed foods is a great way to ensure you’re covering all your nutritional needs, especially if you’re vegan or vegetarian.

This beet walnut salad features both carrot and beet, along with heart-healthy walnuts, purple cabbage and greens, all highly nutritious foods that make this salad rich in antioxidants, vitamins and minerals.

Homemade Salad Dressings

Salad dressing is something I always make at home. It’s so easy to make and is a healthy alternative to commercial, store-bought dressings.

I typically don’t use recipes for salad dressings because they’re so easy to quickly mix up and adjust as you go. I’ve listed below some of the key ingredients you keep on hand for making homemade salad dressings. Stock these in your pantry and you’ll always be ready for quick and easy dressings.

With different combinations of these ingredients you can make everything from caesar salad dressing, to tahini ranch and spicy lime almond.

Ingredients for Homemade Salad Dressing

• oils like avocado and olive
• nut butters like peanut and almond
• various mustards like whole grain and dijon
• liquid stevia
• vinegars like apple cider vinegar, balsamic and red wine
• hot sauce
• soy sauce
• avocado
• plenty of dried herbs and spices
• fresh herbs
• lemons and limes
• tahini
• soft tofu
• cashews
• nutritional yeast

Alrighty, beet walnut salad time! Beets and walnuts should be together forever and ever. They’re just made for each other, don’t you think?

Add something sweet like raisins or chopped dates to the mix too? Oh ya. What else? Grated carrot and purple cabbage because they’re both so pretty and nutritious and add plenty of flavour and texture.

Recipe Notes

Here are some swaps and subs that work for this recipe:

• use chopped dates or cranberries instead of raisins
• use chopped pecans, sunflower seeds, pumpkin seeds or slivered almonds instead of walnuts
• try it with these candied pecans
• any kind of green can be used for the base of the salad
• try roasted beets instead of raw beet
• try golden beets

Related Recipes

Loving this tasty beet walnut salad? You’ll love these too:

• Chickpea Bell Pepper Salad
• BBQ Chickpea Salad
• Edamame Broccoli Wild Rice Salad
• Roasted Vegetable Lentil Salad
• Beet Chickpea Salad

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Originally Published: August 1, 2014