Sexy Steamed Beet Valentine’s Day Quinoa

Over the past few years I’ve been blogging, I have been really bad at doing holiday themed recipes.

My lack of holiday themed recipes has always made me a little sad, because I get so excited seeing some of favorite bloggers really go all out with holiday menus (Megan really blew me away this past Thanksgiving, and Gena always has such comforting, simple and delicious vegan holiday treats).

This year I’ve promised myself I’d do some holiday themed recipes, and what better holiday to start than Valentine’s Day?

I know this holiday gets a lot of heat. Personally, I don’t like how it can make single people feel lonely. If you’re single, I would make a point to either take yourself out for an amazing meal, make something extra indulgent and beautiful for yourself, or go out with your friends. I’ve spent quite a few Valentine’s Days as a single gal, and although it’s been a while, I’m pretty sure I enjoyed them. I know for a fact that the Valentine’s Day before I met Enrrico, I had a fantastic solo night, and I really loved being single. I believe that you have to LOVE being on your own to truly thrive in a relationship.

So if you’re solo on the 14th, be sure to dress yourself up, light some candles, turn on your favorite tunes, or do whatever you want, really. Valentine’s Day, and every day, really, is all about celebrating LOVE whether it’s self love, love for another, or both doesn’t matter! If you think you don’t have any love in your life to celebrate, I’d like to challenge you to look a little deeper. I guarantee there is SOMEONE in your life that offers you honest, genuine love. Sometimes we have to open up our eyes a bit to see all of the beauty and good fortune in our lives. I know can be challenging sometimes when life is rocky!

Ok, so back to the food. There really is no better way to express your genuine self love than to prepare and feed yourself something delicious and nourishing, right? This is where quinoa comes in.

While I’m not huge on grain, I do love quinoa. It’s fluffy, light, and comforting when cooked just right, and in this dish, it takes on a lovely dark pink hue thanks to some delicious red beets.

I also love chocolate, which is such a classic Valentine’s Day treat. Stay tuned to the blog for my latest chocolate dessert creation! I’ll be posting it early next week. But as I’m also a lover of bright colors, and red and pink are two of my favorites (after all shades of purple), I really wanted to use some red beets to get a beautiful festive color for my first Valentine’s themed dish.

Sexy Steamed Beet Quinoa

1 cup quinoa

2 cups Pacific brand vegetable broth (I like low sodium)

1 beet, peeled, sliced, and cut into small cubes

1 clove garlic, minced

5 pieces of fresh sage, rolled up and chopped into thin slices

2 tbsp fresh rosemary, chopped

drizzle of extra virgin olive oil

salt and pepper to taste

In a pot, place all ingredients except for the olive oil over medium heat. Once the broth starts to boil, stir, turn heat to low, and cook until the quinoa has absorbed all liquid (this usually takes about 20 minutes, but be sure to keep an eye on it so it doesn’t overcook. If that happens, then you’ll have a lot of quinoa sticking to the bottom of your pan).

Once the quinoa has absorbed all liquid, place a lid over the pot and remove from heat. Let it sit for about five minutes. This will decrease the likelihood that any quinoa will stick to the bottom of the pan.

Spoon into a dish, and add a little drizzle of extra virgin olive oil over the quinoa and some extra sea salt and pepper if you’d like.

Enjoy along with a delicious raw vegetable salad (optimizing digestion = another act of self love).

Do you have any plans for Valentine’s Day? Single ladies and gents, what fun things do you typically do? Or do you not even think about the holiday at all?

On a foodie note, do you have any warming wintry whole grain staples you’d like to share? Leave it in the comment section below!

Lots of Love,

Marlena