Roasted Beetroot Broccoli and Green Bean Salad

The myth I love busting the most about healthy eating, is that salads are boring, tasteless ad un-fulfilling. But this, my friends, could not be further from the truth. Salads allow you to bring as much creativity to the plate as you like.

Layering and combining different flavours, colours and textures is one way to expand your salad experience – and create something different and delicious. 

So that’s exactly what I did with this roasted Beetroot, Broccoli and Green Bean Salad. Firstly, the star of the salad – the crimson coloured cubes of earthy sweet beetroot, take this whole dish to another level. Not only in taste – but health wise too. 

Beetroot is one of those root vegetables that contain so many incredible health benefits, it’s hard to keep track of how amazing this simple nutrient dense taproot is. 

Nutritional Benefits of Beetroot

Fight Inflammation – Beets are a unique source of betaine, a nutrient that helps protects cells, proteins, and enzymes from environmental stress. It’s also known to help fight inflammation, protect internal organs, improve vascular risk factors, enhance performance, and likely help prevent numerous chronic diseases. 

Anti-Cancer Properties – The powerful phytonutrients that give beets their deep crimson color may help to ward off cancer. Research has shown that beetroot extract reduced multi-organ tumor formations in various animal models when administered in drinking water, for instance, while beetroot extract is also being studied for use in treating human pancreatic, breast, and prostate cancers.

Rich in Valuable Nutrients and Fiber – Beets are high in immune-boosting vitamin C, fiber, and essential minerals like potassium (essential for healthy nerve and muscle function) and manganese (which is good for your bones, liver, kidneys, and pancreas). Beets also contain the B vitamin folate, which helps reduce the risk of birth defects.

Detoxification Support – The betalin pigments in beets support your body’s Phase 2 detoxification process, which is when broken down toxins are bound to other molecules so they can be excreted from your body. Traditionally, beets are valued for their support in detoxification and helping to purify your blood and your liver. Source

Beetroots contain a large amount of inorganic nitrates. When consumed, the body transforms these nitrates into nitrites, and then into nitric oxide. This nitric oxide has two major effects on an athlete:

• it causes blood vessels to dilate so that you can provide more blood to them, allowing more oxygen flow
• enables mitochondria to work more efficiently, so they are able to create the same energy while consuming less oxygen

Beetroot also has similar chemical properties to that of chlorine, meaning that it helps to clean and purify the blood. Funny how it’s crimson tone has such significance to it’s blood cleaning abilities.

So there you have it, more than enough reasons to start adding this delicious wholesome vegetable into your diet more often. 

Now, this vibrant salad ties together the earthy sweetness of the beetroot, with the crisp clean freshness of the steamed broccoli and green beans beautifully. The added walnuts give the dish a great texture, as well as amping up the healthy fats. All gently laid on a bed of sharp fresh rocket, this salad is sure to get the approval of many! It’s simple, delicious and if you make a big batch of roasted beetroot (like I did) you’ll be able to have it again throughout the week. Just store it in an airtight jar in the fridge.

When we were still living in South Africa, Nick’s mum used to make huge batches of roasted beetroot and gift them to family members in big jars. I remember always getting so excited when she’d whip out the pocket of beetroot and began cleaning and prepping of them. I miss being able to buy vegetables in bulk like that. Here in New Zealand you don’t often see pockets of beetroots or huge pockets of potatoes and oranges – like you get in SA. Well not that I’ve seen anyway – but it’s all good! 

Feel free to play around with the recipe – if you’re not too keen on walnuts, use a different nut. If you have a favourite salad dressing you want to use, drizzle it on top. Don’t be afraid to put your own spin on recipes, because especially with salads – there’s not a whole lot you can do to mess up.  

As always, let me know what you think below – I’m so keen to engage more with my readers – so please drop me a comment, even if it’s just a little ‘Hello from …”