Roast Beetroot and Pumpkin Salad with Chickpeas
This earthy, sweet & wholesome salad is divine, with the rich red of the beetroot and the pretty burnished orange of the butternut pumpkin creating a lovely colour palette. The chickpeas provide nutty, delicious ballast and protein.
Servings: 8
Calories: 244kcal
Ingredients
- 500 g Pumpkin or butternut squash. About 1 small butternut chopped, peeled and de-seeded. Chopped into 2-3cm square chunks
- 400 g Beetroot About 4-5 medium beets.
- 1 Bunch Flat Leaf Parsley
- 100 g pine nuts
- 240 g Chickpeas (Drained. Equivelant to 1 standard 15 oz or 400 g 'cans' )
- 200 g vegan feta (optional)
- Juice of half a lemon
- Olive oil
- Salt & Pepper
Instructions
- Bake the beetroot in the oven in their skins for around 40 mins or until soft in the oven at 220°C / Gas Mark 7 / 430°F.. You can also use the air fryer. Adjust the time to around 30 minutes.400 g Beetroot
- At the same time, bake the chopped up butternut squash, in a little oil, seasoned with a bit of salt.500 g Pumpkin
- Meanwhile, toast the pine nuts in a little pan- don't use any oil, and be careful- they catch easily.100 g pine nuts
- Chop the parsley finely.1 Bunch Flat Leaf Parsley
- Once cooked, and a little cooler, peel the beetroot and chop into 1-2cm chunks. (use gloves so your hands don't get pink!)
- Rinse, and rinse again the chickpeas if they are tinned.240 g Chickpeas
- Then, mix together all the ingredients except for the beetroots.200 g vegan feta, Juice of half a lemon, Olive oil, Salt & Pepper
- Taste for seasoning, then add more lemon/olive oil/ salt & pepper if needed.
- Finally, gently toss through the beetroots. Tossing the beets in at the end avoids you having a pink salad.
Notes
The key components to this delicious and colourful salad are the pumpkin and beetroot. Here are some ways you can make it your own:
- Use any kind of squash. The best kinds of squash and pumpkin for this salad are sweet with a good texture.
- Other herbs: Mint, Basil or curly parsley
- Rocket or Arugala are delicious in place of the parsley, or as an additional green.
- Different Nuts: Toasted Pecans, Walnuts or cashews are all a great substitute for more expensive pine nuts.
- No Nuts: Remove the nuts altogether. Add in pumpkin or sunflower seeds if you like.
- Cubes of different types of vegan 'cheese'. Vegan blue cheese or any of your other favourite tangy cheese.
- Instead of vegan cheese, add in a different tangy element with stoned green olives, kalamata olives or capers.
- White beans: choose cannellini or butter beans in place of the chickpeas.
Nutrition
Calories: 244kcal | Carbohydrates: 21g | Protein: 7g | Fat: 17g | Saturated Fat: 3g | Polyunsaturated Fat: 5g | Monounsaturated Fat: 3g | Sodium: 139mg | Potassium: 538mg | Fiber: 6g | Sugar: 8g | Vitamin A: 5359IU | Vitamin C: 9mg | Calcium: 54mg | Iron: 3mg