Serves: 4
Prep time: 20 minutes to assemble, 20 minutes to cook the beets and squash
Ingredients
- 2 cups quinoa, cooked
- 5 ounces mixed greens
- (I used baby spinach, red leaf lettuce and arugula)
- 2 ounces alfalfa sprouts
- 1 cup roasted beets, cut into ¼-inch sizes
- 1 cup roasted butternut squash
- 1 cup fresh peas
- 3 tablespoons roasted pumpkin seeds
- 2 tablespoons sunflower seeds
- 1 tablespoon flax seeds
To cook quinoa:
Directions
- Take 2/3 cup of quinoa and rinse well in a mesh strainer to remove the natural coating.
- Bring 1 and 1/3 cups water to boil in a lidded pan, and add a pinch of salt. Add quinoa, lower temperature to medium-low and cook, covered, for 12 minutes. Remove from heat and place paper towel between the pot and the lid, and allow to sit for five minutes before using, to allow quinoa to plump.
- To roast beets: Roast one medium-sized beet, chopped, in 375 degree oven for 20 minutes.
- To roast butternut squash: Roast chopped squash in 375 degree oven for 20 minutes. Reserve leftover squash for side dish, if desired. (I roasted both the beets and the squash in the same baking pan, separated by a piece of foil.)
- Mix ingredients together and drizzle lightly with a simple vinaigrette dressing before serving. You will want to use less salad dressing than you normally would; there is so much flavor and texture in the salad that it just needs enough dressing to bind the ingredients together a bit.
Simple Vinaigrette Dressing:
Ingredients
- 3 tablespoons balsamic vinegar
- ½ cup extra virgin olive oil
- salt and fresh pepper
