Thanksgiving Recipe: Harvest Quinoa Salad

Harvest-Roasted-Butternut-Squash-Quinoa-Salad_1

We love this fall recipe and it’s perfect for Thanksgiving! It has a great mix of veggies, vitamins and antioxidants and it’s also packed with protein thanks to the quinoa, squash and goat cheese! If you want to make it more low-fat you can omit the cheese and do less dressing.

Ingredients

  • 2½ cups butternut squash, cut into ½” cubes (about 1 half butternut squash)
  • 1½ cups red onion, cut into ½” cubes
  • 2 tablespoons olive oil
  • 1 teaspoon sea salt
  • 1 cup uncooked quinoa
  • 2 cups water
  • ⅓ cup dried cherries
  • ¼ cup pepitas
  • ¼ cup fresh parsley, chopped
  • 2 oz. crumbed goat cheese
  • 2 tablespoons apple cider vinegar
  • 2 tablespoons olive oil
  • 1½ teaspoons raw honey
  • dash of ground cinnamon
  • salt to taste

Instructions

  1. Preheat oven to 400.
  2. Add the butternut squash and red onion to a baking sheet. Season with 2 tablespoons of olive oil and 1 teaspoon of sea salt. Toss to coat.
  3. Bake the mixture for 20 minutes.
  4. In the meantime add quinoa and water to a small saucepan. Stir and bring mixture to a boil. Cover and reduce to simmer for 15 minutes until the liquid has evaporated. Remove from heat, let the quinoa sit for 2 minutes then fluff the quinoa with a fork.
  5. To make the dressing: in a small bowl, mix the apple cider vinegar, 2 tablespoons of olive, raw honey, ground cinnamon, and salt to taste.
  6. To a large bowl add cooked quinoa, butternut squash, red onion, dried cherries, pepitas, parsley, goat cheese, and dressing. Gently toss to mix everything together.