When I first discovered raw food I got really excited about nut and seed cheeses. I’ve always been a cheese lover as a child. When I cut all pasteurized dairy out of my diet, I wasn’t even ware of the many tasty alternatives. Until I started experimenting with nutritional yeast, the star of our recipe. You’ll be amazed by its taste!
Today’s Beetroot Quinoa Salad with Watercress & Sunflower Cheese Sauce makes a great quick lunch or dinner during wintertime. It’s filling, packed with minerals and full of flavor. Want to make this dish even creamier? Replace part of the sunflower seeds with cashews for a decadent bowl of comfort food goodness.
Beetroot Quinoa Salad with Watercress & Sunflower Cheese Sauce
SERVES: 4 people
EQUIPMENT: blender, rubber spatula
INGREDIENTS:
Sunflower Cheese Sauce (+/- 2 ½ cups)
1 cup sprouted sunflower seeds
1 cup water
3 tablespoons nutritional yeast
2 ½ tablespoons fresh lemon juice
1 ½ tablespoon Shiro miso
1 tablespoon shallot
½ small clove garlic (only add this if you like garlic)
½ teaspoon Himalayan crystal salt or sea salt
2 large pinches of black pepper
Beetroot Quinoa Salad
2 medium beetroots, cooked or raw & shredded
2 cups cooked quinoa
Fresh lemon juice, to taste
Himalayan crystal salt or sea salt, to taste
Black pepper, to taste
2 bunches watercress
3 large handfuls greens of your choice: spinach, Romaine lettuce, spring mix…
DIRECTIONS:
Sunflower Cheese Sauce
Combine sunflower seeds, water, nutritional yeast, lemon juice, miso, shallot, garlic, salt and pepper in a blender. Blend until smooth.
Beetroot Quinoa Salad
- Cooked your beetroots until tender and chop them in smaller cubes, or serve them raw and shredded.
- Mix the beetroot with the cooked quinoa. Season with fresh lemon juice, salt and pepper. Mix well.
- Serve the beetroot quinoa with watercress and other greens of your choice.
- Top with sunflower cheese sauce to taste. Bon appétit!
JULIE’S TIPS & TRICKS:
- The sunflower cheese sauce will stay fresh for 3 days or longer in an airtight container in the refrigerator.
- Are you looking for creamy sunflower cheese to use as a spread instead of a sauce? Start with ½ cup water and add more until you reach the desired texture.
- Not a big fan of beetroot? Replace it with other root vegetables of your choice (whether steamed, cooked, oven-baked or raw).
- I like to prepare a big bowl of cooked quinoa during the weekend. That way you’ll save time during the week.
Now I would love to hear from you! Have you ever tried making nut or seed cheese? How do you like to use it: as a pasta sauce, as a pizza topping, to replace béchamel sauce in an oven-dish…? Let me know by leaving a comment down below.
