Red Quinoa Salad with Roasted Butternut Squash, Cranberries and Pecans


If you are looking for a tasty GF vegetarian meal or side dish and don't mind a multi-step food prep experience, try this recipe. Whenever I make this, I get rave reviews and you will too!



Recipe Source: glutenfreegoddess.blogspot.com




Ingredients:

1 cup red quinoa
1 smallish butternut squash, peeled and diced

1/2 cup fresh or frozen cranberries, halved or chopped as you prefer

1/2 of a medium red onion, diced fine

1 clove of garlic, minced
Olive oil
Pure maple syrup, to taste
Sea salt

A sprinkle of ginger and/or curry, to taste

1/2 cup chopped pecans
2 tablespoons fresh chopped parsley

Sea salt and ground pepper, to taste

 

Instructions:

Preheat the oven to 375ºF.

 

Rinse the quinoa thoroughly in a fine sieve. Cook the red quinoa in a rice cooker, using a 1:2 ratio of 1 cup red quinoa to 2 cups water. As mentioned above, if you like it softer, add an additional 1/4 to 1/2 cup water. If you don't have a rice cooker, cook the quinoa on the stove in a pot, according to package directions.

 

In a medium roasting pan add the butternut squash, cranberries, onion and garlic. Drizzle with a dash of olive oil, to coat. Add a teaspoon or two of pure maple syrup- not too much. Sprinkle with sea salt, ginger and a dash of curry. Toss everything together. Roast in the top half of the oven until the squash is tender- about 15 to 20 minutes.

 

Meanwhile, heat a skillet and lightly toast the pecans, till fragrant.

 

In a large warmed serving bowl, add in the cooked quinoa and the roasted butternut mixture. Add in the toasted pecans, chopped parsley. Taste test and adjust seasoning. Drizzle with some fruity extra virgin olive oil and toss to coat. Serve warm.

Makes 4 servings.