Roasted beets, spinach and pumpkin seeds come together for a genuinely restorative plate — one built around the minerals your adrenals crave most. The pumpkin seeds alone deliver around 150 mg of magnesium per serving, the exact nutrient stress burns through first.
It’s one of the 20 recipes inside our Cortisol Balancing Cookbook, and we’re sharing this Magnesium-Rich Spinach & Beet Salad in full so you can taste the approach before you buy the book. Hands-on time is minimal — the oven does the heavy lifting while the beets caramelise.
Why this recipe works
Roasting the beets at 200°C concentrates their sweetness and turns the edges caramelised and tender, while a quick dry-toast wakes up the pumpkin seeds until they pop and smell nutty. The warm beets gently wilt the baby spinach, and a silky lemon-tahini dressing — loosened with a splash of warm water — ties the magnesium-rich seeds, greens and creamy goat cheese into one balanced bowl.
Ingredients
Salad
- 2 medium beets, peeled and cubed
- 120 g baby spinach leaves
- 40 g raw pumpkin seeds
- 60 g goat cheese, crumbled
Lemon-Tahini Dressing
- 2 tbsp tahini
- 1 tbsp fresh lemon juice
- 1 tsp raw honey
- 2 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
Optional garnish
- 1 tbsp fresh dill, chopped
Serves 2 · Prep 10 min · Cook 30 min · 340 kcal per serving
Instructions
- Roast beets. Heat oven to 200°C. Toss beet cubes with 1 tsp olive oil and a pinch of salt. Roast 30 minutes until fork-tender and caramelised.
- Toast seeds. Dry-toast pumpkin seeds in a skillet over medium heat for 3 minutes, shaking often until they pop and smell nutty.
- Whisk dressing. Whisk tahini, lemon juice, honey and olive oil with 1 tbsp warm water until silky and pourable.
- Assemble. Layer spinach on plates, scatter warm beets, pumpkin seeds and goat cheese. Drizzle dressing and finish with dill.
Chef’s tip
Pumpkin seeds give 150 mg magnesium per serving — the mineral adrenals burn first under chronic stress, lowering cortisol reactivity.
Get the full Cortisol Balancing Cookbook
Loved this one? It’s a single recipe from a 20-strong collection built to help balance cortisol through everyday food — clear ingredients, exact steps, no guesswork. Grab the full Cortisol Balancing Cookbook below.
