Good Clean Summer Love Pasta Salad with Love Beets and Organic Girl

I don't know about you guys, but I LOVE me some beets and organic greens! So when Love Beets and Organic Girl let me in on their #GoodCleanSummerLove campaign, I was SO excited to play around!

Before we get into the recipe deets, let me tell you guys about this amazing contest. One lucky winner is going to win an entire year's supply of Love Beets and Organic Girl (insert heart eyes and hand raising emoji here)! I'll put the full details on how to enter at the bottom of this post, so make sure you check it out!

So back to the eats. Beets and greens scream summer to me (hence the campaign I'm guessing), and of course they both go great in a salad. But I decided I wanted to kick it up a level. What else screams summer? Grilling, corn, and pasta salads. So why not bring them all together? Trust me you want to bring them all together...

Here's What You'll Need:

-1 lb pasta, cooked (I used sprouted penne, but lentil or whole grain pastas are also great)
-2 cups Organic Girl pepper greens
-4 Love Beets organic cooked beets, chopped
-1/4 cup Organic Girl pomegranate balsamic dressing
-3/4 cup feta
-2 ears of corn
-1 tbsp olive oil
-1/4 cup pine nuts
-Sea Salt and pepper to taste

Instructions:

1) Preheat your grill to medium high heat.
2) Remove the silk from the corn and pull down the husks. Coat the corn in olive oil, salt, and pepper. Replace the husks back up around the corn.
3) Grill the corn for about 20 minutes, rotating 1/4 of the way every 5 minutes.
4) Once cooked, shave the kernels off the cob using a knife.
5) Toast the pine nuts on the stove top until just golden brown (about 3-5 minutes).
6) In a large bowl, mix together the pasta, beets, pepper greens, corn, pine nuts, and feta.
7) Add in the dressing (and salt and pepper to taste) and mix completely until evenly distributed.
8) Serve and enjoy!

This pasta salad is literally like summer in side dish form. It's perfect for a picnic, bbq, or even as a meal through out the week. Let me know what you think in the comments, and make sure to check on the contest rules below.
 

Vegan and Gluten Free Beet Waffles

I've actually been thinking about making a beet waffle for a little bit now. My initial thought was to put beet chunks into a waffle like I've done with apple or berries. But then the thought came to me, why not incorporate the beets into the actual batter? Plus it would make for a beautiful color. 

So I was ready to make my standard quinoa flour waffle base and blend in some beets, when I remembered that I was recently introduced to the Neat Egg. The Neat Egg is an all natural egg substitute made from chia seeds and garbanzo beans. This seemed like the perfect first recipe to try with the Neat Egg. 

I've (attempted) to make a vegan waffle in the past, and it was just plain gross. It was really dense and not waffle-like at all. To be fair, it was my first vegan waffle attempt, actually my first homemade waffle attempt in general. Needless to say, I was a little hesitant about trying another vegan waffle. But the Neat Egg really came through. I honestly would never have known that the waffle had an egg substitute and not a real egg. It made the perfect waffle and wasn't dense at all. 

I topped mine off with arugula, feta, and spicy honey. I know, I know not vegan at all, but that is the thing I love about this recipe. You can make it for everyone! If you're vegan, it's delicious. If you're not vegan, it's still delicious. And everyone can choose their own toppings.

Here's What You'll Need:

-3/4 cup quinoa flour
-1 tsp baking powder
-3/4 cup water and/or unsweetened almond milk (I usually do 1/2 cup of almond milk and 1/4 cup of water)
-1 Neat Egg
-1 tbsp coconut oil, melted
-4 pieces of Love Beets organic cooked beets
-Toppings of choice

Makes 2 waffles

Instructions:

1) In a blender or food processor, blend together the beets and water and/or almond milk first.
2) Add in the remaining ingredients, and blend until batter is smooth.
3) Preheat your waffle iron.
4) Once preheated, pour in half of the batter, and cook according to your waffle maker instructions.
5) Repeat with the second half of the batter. 
6) Serve the waffles, top with desired toppings, and enjoy!

Let me know what you think in the comments below!