Hearty marinated red beets, falafel and tahini dressing

And I am addicted...to marinated red beets. Thank you to my friend Hanna for introducing me to this simple yet so tasty way of preparing one of this seasons top layers.

So here is a quick summary on red beet's and their nutritional benefits; They are detoxifying due to their high antioxidant content and their anti-inflammatory capacity. Their red colouring has much to do with these benefits. The longer you cook, steam or roast the beets the more of their nutritional value is lost. The best is to eat these raw but as winter approaches I tend to levitate towards warm food.

This way of marinating red beets can be used for various dishes. Hanna even recommends them in a sandwich with grilled halumni cheese or even feta, yum! I bet it will blow any burger away.

Ok so here it is, the marinade:

- 2 red beets (cooked or steamed)
- 2 tbsp rice vinegar (or white/red wine vinegar)
- a generous pinch of salt
- 1/2 tbsp ground cumin

That's it! Whisk the marinade together and then add your cooked/steamed red beets while still hot and  mix around. Allow to sit for 10-30minutes.

As for the rest of the dish, I served the red beets with falafel, a mix of millet and quinoa (they have about the same cooking time, so I just cook them in one pan), spinach and the tahini dressing.

The tahini dressing is simple:

- 1,5 tbsp tahini paste/butter
- 0,5 tbsp water
- juice form 1 lemon
- 1 tsp tamari alternately soy sauce
- small drizzle of honey or maple syrup

This dressing is also awesome drizzled over steamed broccoli or cauliflower or a soba noodle salad.