Roasted Root Vegetable and Quinoa Salad With Hot Honey and Sumac

Root vegetables and citrus are paired with a spicy, sweet, tangy dressing that brings sunshine to dreary winter days. It delivers an explosion of flavor that is satisfying enough to be a main dish, yet light enough to be a supporting player. 

Ingredients: 

1 Cup Quinoa (uncooked)

1 1/2 Water

3 Large Carrots 

3 Beets

Olive Oil

2 Oranges

1 Radish sliced very thin

Arugula (or any other greens you would like to use)

3 Tablespoons Red Clay Hot Honey

1/4 cup Apple Cider Hot Vinegar

1 Tablespoon Sumac

Salt

Additional Sumac for garnish

Directions:

Preheat oven to 400 degrees. 

Step 1 Rinse the quinoa very well. There is a bitter outside hull on quinoa that sometimes isn't completely taken off so do not skip this important step! 

Place 1 cup of quinoa and 1 1/2 cups of water in a pan, add a pinch of salt and bring to a boil. Reduce the heat and simmer for 15-20 minutes until it is plump and crunchy soft. Remove from heat and set aside to cool. Note: you can cook the quinoa a day ahead and keep it in the refrigerator or you can freeze it for months and bring to room temperature before adding to the salad.

While the quinoa is cooking slice oranges and cut off all peel and white pith from the outside. Place the oranges in a small bowl and pour the vinegar on top and allow to marinate while you make the rest of the recipe.

Place carrots on a parchment lined baking tray and drizzle with olive oil and season with salt and pepper. *for a little extra zing you can sprinkle some piment d'espelette or aleppo pepper on top.

Cut the tops off the beets, peel and place on foil. drizzle with a bit of olive oil and wrap up in the foil.

Roast the beets and the carrots in the oven for 30 minutes until tender. Remove from oven and allow to cool at room temperature. Once cool enough to work with slice them into bite size pieces.

Remove the oranges from the vinegar. Add the hot honey and sumac to the vinegar and whisk to combine. Taste and add salt and pepper to taste.

Combine all of the ingredients with the dressing in a large bowl. Plate and sprinkle generously with more sumac.