Quinoa Fall Salad
Quinoa fall salad – the perfect protein power lunch. Recently we watched Cowspiracy a film on Netflix that is produced by Leonardo DiCaprio and one of the environmentalists commented on how ‘meatless Monday’ isn’t a good campaign – what it does is validate that you can do the ‘wrong’ thing 6 days out of 7. I’m not too sure I agree, but I certainly get the point. To me, meatless Monday is a way of affecting change among those who are heavy meat eaters, those who may not even think about not eating meat. Anyway, whether you eat meat, participate in meatless Monday, or are like us, and have cut out a lot of animal products each and every day, the film Cowspiracy is good. At the very least, it offers some perspective.
Servings: 8 people
Ingredients
- medium butternut squash
- 1 tablespoon of olive oil
- 1/2 teaspoon of pepper
- 1 cup of uncooked quinoa
- 1/2 cup of cranberries
- medium red onion
- 1/3 cup of pumpkin seeds
- Dressing:
- 1/2 cup of olive oil
- 1/4 cup of balsamic vinegar
- 1 tablespoon of agave syrup and dijon mustard
- 1/2 teaspoon of garlic
Instructions
- Set the oven to 400 degrees on roast.
- Cut up your butternut squash into cube pieces.
- Toss in a bowl with the olive oil and the pepper.
- Roast them in the oven for 25 minutes on 400 degrees. Don't have a roast setting? Be sure to turn them half way through!
- Once the butternut squash is roasting, get the quinoa going. I use my rice cooker to cook the quinoa and it works super well. Cook the quinoa according to the directions on the label.
- Then, dice up the red onion.
- Once everything is done - the butternut squash and quinoa cooled a bit, it's time to mix everything together!
- Dressing time. Be sure the garlic is well minced and then mix all of the dressing ingredients together. I love my oxo shaker - it's perfect for homemade dressings.
- Okay - shake it up.
- Mix everything together and you've got yourself a delicious fall salad!