Easy Beets and Broccoli Salad, with Baby Spinach

beets and broccoli salad w spinach - served

Easy Beets and Broccoli Salad, with Baby Spinach

Cook beets (microwave, pressure-cooker or steam), then peel and dice. Wash, dry and rough chop spinach; wash, chop and briefly cook broccoli; halve the grape tomatoes and break up the shelled walnuts into small pieces. Arrange all ingredients on top of spinach in a serving bowl. Serve with olive oil, balsamic vinegar and shredded Parmesan cheese. Enjoy with any meal.

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Prep Time 20

Cook Time 10

Total Time 30

Course Salad

Cuisine American, Continental, European, Italian

Servings people

Calories 294 kcal

Equipment

Microwave oven preferred for cooking beet and broccoli; If not available, see Recipe Notes for alternate cooking directions using a steamer pan for beets and a skillet for broccoli.
Microwave safe glass/ceramic bowl I do NOT recommend using a plastic bowl for cooking the beet in the microwave.
Pressure cooker - optional you can cook beets in the pressure cooker if you don't have a microwave: directions are included in the main recipe.
Stainless steel bowl/small plate that fits inside the pressure cooker / steamer if using pressure cooker or steamer for cooking beet
Sturdy tongs if using pressure cooker or steamer for cooking beet
Heavy bottom, 8 inch (20 cm) frying pan/skillet If cooking broccoli on the stove-top

Ingredients

2 cups Baby Spinach - about a big fistful (20 g) - rough chopped rinse thoroughly and spin-dry (or towel-dry) to remove excess moisture
1/2 cup Beets - cooked, peeled and diced medium - about 80 g 1 medium beet; I prefer red beet; but any variety is fine
1 cup Broccoli - cut into small bite-sized florets - about 75g Measure the raw broccoli
5 whole Red Grape/Cherry Tomatoes - halved lengthwise if not available, use 1/4 cup of any variety of red ripe tomato, diced medium
2 tbsp Walnuts - shelled and broken up into small pieces about 2 raw walnut halves; if you like, substitute with shelled pistachios; for nut-free salad, use pumpkin/squash seeds or sunflower seeds;
1 tsp Olive Oil Extra Virgin Olive Oil preferred; if not available, use any mild-flavored, high quality oil.
1/8 tsp Salt - divide into 2 equal portions adjust later as per taste preference - you may need to add up to 1/8 tsp more
1/4 tsp Black Pepper - divide into 2 equal portions freshly crushed preferred

Serve on the side

1 tbsp Parmesan cheese - finely shredded if not available, See Recipe Notes for alternatives and also for vegan options
1 tbsp Balsamic Vinegar if not available, use Apple Cider vinegar, Raspberry vinegar or Rice Vinegar; white or red wine vinegar, lime/lemon juice is OK too

Optional Ingredients - Serve on the side

1 tsp Dried Basil leaves if fresh basil is available, use 6-7 medium sized leaves with the stem, roughly chopped
2 tbsp Pomegranate Arils - the juicy "seeds" for a juicy sweet-sour 'pop' that looks pretty too
1/4 cup Raspberries for a juicy sweet-sour 'pop' that looks pretty too

Instructions

Cook the beets

Wash the beet, cut in half and cook until tender, using the microwave or pressure cooker. If neither is available, see Recipe Notes for cooking the beet in a steamer pan.
Note: I do NOT recommend cooking the beet in boiling water, because a lot of nutrients will leach into the cooking water while doing so. You could certainly use this cooking water in another way, but the beet pieces you add to the salad will be significantly depleted of nutrients
Microwave:
Place the beet, cut side down, in a glass/ceramic microwave-safe bowl. Add 2 tbsp water. Cover and microwave: first on Hi, for 20 seconds, then on low power (30-40% power) for 6-7 min.
Check for "done-ness" by inserting a knife: it should easily pierce and go through the beet. If it does not, continue to cook on low power for up to 3-4 min, until beet is soft-cooked (but not mushy) when tested with knife. Remove from the microwave and set aside, covered, to cool. the beet continues to cook as it slowly cools to room temperature.
Pressure cooker : Stove-top cooker or Instant Pot
Place beet in a small stainless steel bowl or pressure cooker insert container. Add 2 tbsp water and set aside while preparing the pressure cooker for pot-in-pot cooking.
Place a trivet/rack in the pressure cooker pot and add 1 1/2 -2 cups water. Set the bowl with the beet on the rack. Close the lid and cook at full pressure for 10 min. Wait for natural pressure release to open the lid - the beet continues to cook during this time.
If pressure is not fully released by 10-12 min, you may force release the residual pressure. Carefully remove the bowl from the cooker - it's HOT! I highly recommend using sturdy tongs to do this. Set aside, uncovered, to cool.

Prep remaining ingredients

While the beet cooks, you can start prepping everything else.
Place a big fistful of baby spinach in a colander and rinse thoroughly with cool water. I recommend doing this even with bagged spinach that says, "Triple-washed, Ready to serve"
There have been several outbreaks of food poisoning in recent years - some have been traced to contaminated bagged greens that were consumed raw - so please wash those greens yet again!
If you have a salad spinner, dry the washed spinach in the spinner.
Otherwise, spread out the leaves on a clean dry kitchen towel fr a few minutes, to absorb excess moisture.
Gather up the dried spinach and rough chop the leaves.
Wash the broccoli in a colander; then cut it into small bite-sized florets. Cut the stems a bit smaller than the florets.
Place the broccoli pieces in a microwave-safe glass/ceramic bowl; sprinkle with 1/16 tsp each of salt and black pepper. Toss and microwave on Hi for 30 seconds.
Note:
If microwave is not available, See Recipe Notes for cooking on the stove-top.
Remove from microwave and set aside to cool. the broccoli will be bright green and slightly softened - note that the volume decreases slightly during cooking.
Transfer to a stainless steel plate and spread it out for quick cooling: the metal quickly absorbs the heat from the broccoli.
Should you put the broccoli on ice to cool it faster? I find that there is no real need to do that - dealing with the ice gets kind of messy, so I just let it cool on a metal plate instead.
Wash and cut the grape/cherry tomatoes in half, lengthwise from the stem end.
Break up or rough chop the walnuts into small pieces.

Peel and dice the cooked beet

By this time, the beet should have cooled to room temperature. Gently rub the skin of the cooked beet - it should peel off quite easily. If, for some reason it doesn't, it's OK, just use a peeler.
See how smooth and glossy it is when the peel is gently rubbed off with your fingers.
If you have to use a peeler, it will not look smooth and glossy like this, but that's OK.
Dice the peeled beet into small-medium bite-sized pieces.

Assemble the salad

Arrange the spinach in the serving bowl/platter.
Start layering the other ingredients on top, distributing them evenly all over: first the broccoli, then the beets.
Add the chopped walnuts, then arrange the halved tomatoes as you wish.
Sprinkle a little bit of the Parmesan over the assembled salad. Drizzle the balsamic vinegar all over the salad; then add the olive oil - since you're only adding 1 tsp, try to add it drop-wise, for even distribution everywhere.
Sprinkle the remaining 1/16 tsp each of salt and pepper evenly over the salad. Don't toss the salad!
Serve the remaining shredded Parmesan, extra olive oil and balsamic vinegar, along with basil (if using) and other optional toppings on the side.
Enjoy!

Notes

Parmesan Cheese not available?

Try one of the following options...

Dairy options:

Romano Cheese - finely shredded
Asiago Cheese - finely shredded
Pizza Cheese blend - finely shredded
Feta Cheese crumbles
Paneer crumbles - gently toss with salt before using

Non-dairy (plant-based) options

Plant-based Parmesan or other cheese variety you like
Tofu crumbles
- use firm tofu - a small piece... about 2 tbsp
- sprinkle with salt and a few drops of lime/lemon juice
- then gently crumble with your fingers -
  - the salt and lime/lemon juice gets distributed as you do this

No microwave or pressure cooker for cooking the beet?

That's fine, you can cook the beet in a steamer pan, but be sure to plan for a longer cooking time: about 20-25 min

Don't have a steamer pan?

If you don't have a steamer pan, no worries... You can 'create' one with common kitchenware, as described below:

Place a trivet/small cooling rack inside a large pot with a well-fitting lid.
Find a small bowl - I recommend using a stainless steel bowl - that is large enough to hold the beet, but small enough to be placed on the trivet/cooling rack inside the large pot
Add about 1 1/2 cups of water, cover with the lid and start heating to bring the water to a boil.
- This is your make-shift steamer pan!

Steamer Pan: On stove-top

Prepare the steamer pan for steaming:
- add 1/1/2 -2 cups of water in the steamer pot,
- position the steamer tray and cover.
- Heat the pan on high: when you see steady steam coming out, it's ready for steaming the beet.
Steam the beet:
- Place the beet in a small heat-safe bowl - I recommend using a stainless steel bowl
- Set the bowl in the steamer tray.
- Cover and steam on high heat for 20-25 min.
Check for done-ness after 20 min
- Insert the tip of a knife: it should easily pierce and go through the beet.
  - If it does not, continue to steam for 5-7 min, until beet is soft-cooked (but not mushy) when tested with knife.
  - Carefully remove from the steamer - it's HOT!
    - Use sturdy tongs
  - Set aside, uncovered, to cool.
Continue as directed in the main recipe.

To Cook Broccoli on Stovetop

Heat 2 tbsp water in a small skillet/frying pan
Add the cut-up broccoli florets and stems, sprinkle with 1/16 tsp each salt and pepper
Splash some water on top - don't stir;
Cover and cook for 3-4 min on low heat.
Turn heat off: leave the cover on for 1-2 min
Stir the cooked broccoli and transfer to a metal plate
- Place the plate on ice to cool it fast and retain is deepened green color

Storing Leftovers

Store leftovers in a well-lidded container in the refrigerator.
- Consume within 1-2 days
  - the spinach has a tendency to start rotting very quickly.
  - Remove any spoiled spinach leaves before serving leftover refrigerated salad.
I do NOT recommend freezing this salad - it is quite unpalatable upon thawing.

Nutrition

Calories: 294kcalCarbohydrates: 29gProtein: 10gFat: 18gSaturated Fat: 2gPolyunsaturated Fat: 10gMonounsaturated Fat: 5gSodium: 426mgPotassium: 1104mgFiber: 11gSugar: 14gVitamin A: 6281IUVitamin C: 113mgCalcium: 171mgIron: 5mg

Keyword Baby Spinach, Balsamic Vinegar, beetroot, Beets, Broccoli, Cheese, Cherry tomato, Extra Firm Tofu, Extra Virgin Olive Oil, Fresh Tomatoes, Grape tomato, Hi Fiber food, Hi Protein food, Olive Oil, Paneer, Parmesan Cheese, Salad, walnuts

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