Looking for a healthy and nutritious salad? Look no further, pumpkin and beetroot salad makes the best root-vegetable salad ever. Combine the earthy and subtle sweet flavours of the beetroot with the nutty pumpkin in a simple salad and make it your own. Add your favourite root vegetables, favourite nuts and favourite salad dressing. The standout ingredient in this pumpkin and beetroot salad is definitely the blue cheese. However, if you are not the biggest fan of blue cheese, I’ve come up with a list of clever blue cheese substitutes.
If you do however decide to go for the blue cheese, then include a generous portion of honey in the salad. That way, you’ll have a salty and sweet explosion of flavours going on at the same time. This pumpkin and beetroot salad is very sophisticated, so why not be the gourmet and serve it up to your guests?
pumpkin and beetroot salad with blue cheese and lentils
This pumpkin and beetroot salad calls for these two ingredients, as well as salad leaves, cooked lentils, blue cheese and pecans. Although this combination sounds simple, it carries complex and refined flavours. The complementary ingredients create a well-balanced meal. As for the dressing, a dash of olive oil and lemon for some acidity will do the trick. However, if you want to experiment with more flavours, keep reading to find out more.
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blue cheese vegetable salad
Every time I cook with blue cheese, I always think of my readers who are not the greatest fans of this type of cheese! Since blue cheese is quite distinct and assertive, you might be attracted to other cheeses that aren’t just as pungent. This includes substituting with feta cheese or Mexican queso fresco (should you get your hands on it).
You can also consider other semi-creamy cheese like goat’s cheese or brillat-savarin (firmer brie-like cheese, my favourite).
If you do however like blue cheese, I like to use these three types of blue cheese the best: gorgonzola, stilton or Roquefort. They are all interchangeable for this pumpkin and beetroot salad recipe.
roasted pumpkin and beetroot salad
Roasting the pumpkin and beetroot prior to adding them to the salad is the best way to extract as much flavour as possible. If you roast the pumpkin or beetroot, first of all it will have a nice bite to it. Especially if you char it a little bit. In my opinion, this is when these vegetables are revealed at their best. Second, roasting the vegetables brings out more sweetness.
So, if you happen to suffer from diabetes or are adhering to a low-sugar diet, avoid making this roasted pumpkin and beetroot salad version. Compared to boiled vegetables, roasted vegetables have a higher glycemic content.
Next, to make this salad greener, I recommended adding raw fennel. It adds a lovely anise flavour. Otherwise, try these fennel substitutes.
pumpkin and beetroot salad variations
First of all, you can always alter the salad. Just replace the spinach with escarole or these escarole substitutes to make the salad crunchier.
I love using root vegetables in a salad because you can easily put your own spin on a salad by adding additional ingredients. For example, to make this salad leafier, just add more garden greens. Better yet, be more sustainable and don’t throw out the beet leaves. Reuse the beet greens in this pumpkin and beetroot salad. You might also want to consider adding fresh baby spinach to up the iron content.
For those who love meat, I highly recommend adding pieces of smoked chicken thighs or smoked chicken breasts. In fact, any type of poultry could work in this pumpkin and beetroot salad.
how to make a vegetable salad more filling
First of all, one has to remember that pumpkin and lentils are already quite filling ingredients. However, if you would like to increase the serving size of this pumpkin and beetroot salad, you can easily do so by adding your typical carbohydrates. Keep reading to find out more about the different variations of this recipe.
pumpkin, beetroot and potato salad
For example, you can try adding potatoes to this vegetable salad. These could include roasted normal potatoes or roasted sweet potatoes. The potatoes have roughly the same texture as the pumpkin. In this case, you might want to consider adding either another crunchy element or a fresh element for a bit of variety. For example, feel free to add very thin slices of raw red onion for a bit of a tangy flavour that will cut through the sweetness of the potatoes and the pumpkin. Plus, the red onion also pairs very well with the other ingredients such as the blue cheese.
roast pumpkin and beetroot couscous salad
Generally speaking, one tends to associate couscous with Mediterranean or Middle Eastern recipes. Nevertheless, I’ve already paired couscous with roasted vegetables in a salad. Check out my spiced butternut, chickpea, red onion, raisin and couscous salad here. The couscous will add some volume to the salad and it will definitely give you more portions. In this case, you can save some of the salad for later.
If you want to add a bit of pepperiness to the salad, you can also add a spoonful of Dijon mustard into your dressing. It will go very nicely with the couscous. Otherwise, you can also consider these Dijon mustard substitutes.
pumpkin and beetroot quinoa salad
I love to eat quinoa. In fact, one of my favourite vegetable salads is my rainbow quinoa salad. The rainbow quinoa salad is the perfect example of how quinoa can add that amazing crunch to a vegetable-based salad. If you add quinoa to the pumpkin and beetroot salad, it will fill you up in no time!
Here are some other salads you can try:
Now, if you would like to have a light dressing, consider adding this sugar free salad dressing.
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Pumpkin and Beetroot Salad
- Total Time: 60 minutes
- Yield: 6 1x
Description
Learn how to make a simple yet sophisticated pumpkin and beetroot salad with blue cheese and lentils. Works best when you roast the pumpkin and beetroot.
Ingredients
- 1 butternut squash, peeled and cubed
- 6 beetroot, scrubbed and sliced
- 30ml (2 tbsp) vegetable oil
- 180g (6oz) baby spinach leaves, washed
- 30ml (2 tbsp) pumpkin seeds
- 250g (½lb) cooked lentils
- 150g (5oz) blue cheese, crumbled
- 45ml (3 tbsp) olive oil
- 15ml (1 tbsp) honey
- 1 lemon, juiced
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 180°C/350°F/Gas mark 4.
- Arrange the pumpkin cubes and beetroot slices on a baking tray and drizzle with vegetable oil. Bake for 30 minutes or until the vegetables are fork tender.
- Remove from the heat and set aside to cool.
- Place the salad leaves in a large mixing bowl and add the pumpkin, beetroot, lentils and blue cheese and stir.
- Pour the olive oil, honey and lemon juice in a cup and stir.
- Drizzle the salad dressing over the salad, season to taste and serve immediately.
Notes
- Omit the cheese and honey and you have a filling and nutritious vegan salad!
- This salad is perfect to take to work, just store it in the fridge.
- Prep Time: 30 minutes
- Cook Time: 30 minutes
- Category: Main Course
- Cuisine: International
Nutrition
- Serving Size: 1 serving
- Calories: 421
- Sugar: 11.6 g
- Sodium: 442 mg
- Fat: 21 g
- Saturated Fat: 6.9 g
- Carbohydrates: 42.3 g
- Fiber: 15.9 g
- Protein: 11.6 g
- Cholesterol: 19 mg
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Pamela
what a colorful salad, will need to make this for lunch today!
★★★★★