Meera Sodha’s vegan recipe for squash, red onion and quinoa salad with beetroot yoghurt

Max Halley, AKA the Sandwich King, has a mantra for making great sandwiches: “Hot, cold, sweet, sour, crunchy, soft – if you have every one of those six elements, it guarantees deliciousness,” he says. I’d wager the same is true of proper salads – that is, meals, not sides. And most plates of food, actually. With this salad, you have hot roast squash, cold beetroot yoghurt, sweet red onions, a sour lemon dressing, crunchy pumpkin seeds and soft quinoa to bind it all together. If you don’t love it, blame Max.

Squash, red onion and quinoa salad with beetroot yoghurt

Prep 10 min
Cook 1 hr 10 min
Serves 4 for dinner

1 butternut squash (1.1kg)
2 red onions, peeled
Olive oil
Fine sea salt
400g beetroot
150g quinoa – I used a mixture of red, black and white
3½ tbsp pumpkin seeds (40g)
2 lemons, juiced, to get 4 tbsp
20g parsley, leaves picked and roughly chopped
150g vegan Greek yoghurt – I use Oatly

Heat the oven to 200C (180C fan)/390F/gas 6 and line both a high-sided oven tray and a small oven tray with reusable baking paper.

Cut the squash in half lengthways, scrape out the seeds, then cut the squash into 1cm-wide slices and put these in a bowl. Cut the red onion into wedges of 2cm at their widest point, then add to the squash bowl. Pour over three tablespoons of oil, add a half-teaspoon of salt, then toss to coat and combine, and tip into the large lined tray.

Wash, scrub, top and tail the beetroot, then cut into wedges 3-4cm at their widest point. Put these in the now-empty bowl, add a tablespoon of oil and a quarter-teaspoon of salt, then toss to coat and tip out on to the smaller lined tray.

Roast both trays for 45 minutes, checking after 30 minutes to make sure the onions aren’t burning (if they are, pull them out earlier).

Put the quinoa and a quarter-teaspoon of salt in a small saucepan, pour over 375ml just-boiled water, then bring to a boil. Clap on the lid, turn down to a simmer, leave to cook for 20 minutes, then take off the heat and put to one side.

To assemble the salad, tip the quinoa into the squash and onion tray, add the pumpkin seeds, half the lemon juice, three-quarters of a teaspoon of salt and a tablespoon of oil. Mix well, add the parsley and mix again.

When the beetroot has cooled, put the wedges in a blender with the remaining two tablespoons of lemon juice and two tablespoons of water, then blitz to a smooth paste. Scrape into a bowl and stir in the yoghurt and a half-teaspoon of salt.

To serve, artfully smoosh some of the beetroot yoghurt on a plate and top with a portion of the squash, quinoa and onion salad.