Warm Roasted Beet and Carrot Salad with Arugula

This flavourful warm roasted beet and carrot salad with arugula and white beans is tossed with crispy panko crumbs and a creamy maple tahini dressing. Super satisfying as a main dish salad or veggie side!

Prepare to fall in love: this roasted beet and carrot salad, with crispy seasoned panko, creamy maple tahini dressing and tender baby arugula is GOOD. How good? As the author of three cookbooks, I do not take what I am about to say lightly: this roasted beet and carrot salad is one of the most delicious plant-based recipes I have ever made.

It’s deeply flavourful. With plenty of contrasting textures. And the plant-based protein from the white beans and healthy fats from the tahini dressing make it deep-in-your-bones satisfying.

Even better? It’s actually pretty simple to make. The oven does most of the work as you’re going to roast the beets, carrots and white beans. And while that is happening, you’ll whip up the creamy maple tahini dressing in about 5 minutes. The seasoned panko takes another 5 minutes on the stovetop.

Which means that by the time the roasted beets are done, the kitchen will be clean and you’ll be catching up on cute animal videos with a mocktail in your hand.

I am really glad that I have gotten over my reluctance to cook beets because they are so comforting and yummy. How did I do it? Well first, I stopped peeling them. It’s messy and kind of unnecessary as their skin is so thin. Instead, I take one of those loopy scrub cloths and just give them a good scrub to get all the rough bits off.

The other thing that helped me was to stop trying to cook whole beets. SO many roasted beet recipes use whole beets but when you slice or chop them into smaller pieces, they take way less time to cook. Yes, it’s a bit of chopping…but I promise this craveable salad is so, so worth it.

As a dietitian, one of the biggest healthy eating myths I want to bust is that eating more plants is somehow boring or lacking. I consider joy and pleasure an essential part of a healthy life. If what you eat isn’t delicious, you’re not going to want to eat it for long. And despite what the internet will tell you, healthy eating isn’t about everything-free diets or taking an armload of supplements. It’s about showing up every single day and trying to put as many plants on your plate as possible.

If that sounds good to you, you might want to pick up a copy of my newest plant-based cookbook, Plant Magic. It’s filled with fun, flavourful and accessible plant–based recipes for every eater…even the plant skeptics!

How to make this roasted beet and carrot salad

A salad this good seems like it will be more complicated than it is: think roast, dressing, panko and toss! The salad is 10 ingredients plus the maple tahini dressing (which you could easily make in advance!)

Step One: gather your salad ingredients. You’ll need a pound each of carrots and beets, a can of your favourite white bean (like navy or cannellini), baby arugula, panko crumbs, nutritional yeast, ground cumin and garlic powder, lemon plus oil and salt (plus the dressing ingredients below!)

Step Two: Preheat the oven to 425F and prep your veggies for roasting. I don’t bother with peeling. Instead, I give the carrots and beets a good scrub with a scrubby cloth or veggie brush. Then, I slice into roughly ¼ inch (½ cm) wedges and slices. You want everything to be roughly the same size so it cooks evenly.

Step Three: Time for roasting. Prep a large and a small rimmed baking sheet with parchment paper. On the large sheet, you’ll toss the carrots and white beans with oil, salt and cumin. On the small sheet, you’ll toss the beets with some oil and salt. Roast for 20 minutes, stir and roast for 10 minutes more.

Step Four: While everything roasts, prep the maple tahini dressing. You’ll blend together tahini, water, lemon juice, maple syrup, oil, garlic, salt and chile flakes. Set aside.

Step Five: Heat a small skillet on medium, add a drizzle of oil and turn down to medium low. Add the panko, nutritional yeast, garlic powder, salt and lemon zest and toast, stirring constantly, until golden brown, just 2-3 minutes. Remove to a small plate and set aside.

Step Six: once the roasted beets and carrots are done, let cool for 2-3 minutes, then toss the carrots, beets and half the dressing right on the large baking sheet. Add the arugula and panko and toss again. Serve with remaining dressing. Think you’ll have leftovers? Keep the components separate and just toss each serving.

I’m gonna be honest with you: technically this should be 4 servings but I can easily eat half this recipe myself!

More flavourful (and nourishing!) vegan salads:

• Warm Roasted Red Cabbage Salad with Crispy Lentils
• Vegan Cobb Salad with Tempeh Bacon
• Roasted Sweet Potato and Spinach Salad
• Sugar Snap Pea Salad with Roasted Buckwheat

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Warm Roasted Beet and Carrot Salad with Arugula

This flavourful warm roasted beet and carrot salad with arugula and white beans is tossed with crispy panko crumbs and a creamy maple tahini dressing. Super satisfying as a main dish salad or veggie side!

Course Salad, Side Dish

Cuisine American

Diet Gluten Free, Vegan, Vegetarian

Keyword arugula, beets, carrot, tahini, white bean

Dietary Preference dairy free, Gluten-Free, nut free, vegan, vegetarian

Prep Time 15 minutes minutes

Cook Time 30 minutes minutes

Total Time 45 minutes minutes

Servings 4 servings

Author Desiree Nielsen, RD

Ingredients

Roasted Beets and Carrots

• 1 pound beets well scrubbed and sliced into ¼ inch wedges
• 1 pound carrots scrubbed and sliced into ¼ inch slices
• 14 oz can white beans rinsed and drained
• 3 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil divided
• ¾ teaspoon salt divided
• ½ teaspoon ground cumin

Seasoned Panko Crumbs

• ½ cup panko bread crumbs gluten free if needed
• 1 tablespoon nutritional yeast
• ½ teaspoon garlic powder
• ½ teaspoon salt
• ½ lemon zest only
• oil for cooking

Salad Assembly

• 8 cups baby arugula
• maple tahini dressing

Imperial – Metric

Instructions

Prepare the roasted beets, carrots and white beans

• Preheat the oven to 425℉ (218℃) and prepare a large and small rimmed baking sheet with parchment paper.
• On the large baking sheet, toss the carrots and white beans with 2 tablespoons oil, ½ teaspoon salt and the cumin. On the small baking sheet, toss the beets in the remaining 1 tablespoon oil and ¼ teaspoon salt.
• Roast for 20 minutes, stir and roast again for 10 minutes until veggies are tender and golden and some of the beans are split.

Prepare the panko crumbs

• Heat a small skillet on medium heat. Add a drizzle of oil, turn down to medium low and add panko, nutritional yeast, salt, garlic powder and lemon zest.
• Stir continuously until crumbs are golden, about 2-3 minutes. Remove to a plate so they don’t overcook.

Assemble the salad

• Let the roasted veggies cool for 2-3 minutes, then add the beets and half the dressing to the tray with the carrots and toss. Add the panko and arugula and toss again. Serve with remaining dressing on the side.

Notes

Note for my vegan friends: not all brands of panko are vegan! Some have dairy so just check the ingredients.

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