Warm Kale, Butternut & Quinoa Salad
Helloooo beautiful salad.
Even though, this is definitely not your average salad. This is my favorite warm salad full of leafy greens, hearty vegetables, and grains (or in this case, pseudo-grain quinoa). During the winter, I really miss all of the giant salads that we eat during the summer, so this type of dish is the perfect thing to warm me up and cure my summer salad cravings.
This recipe is the perfect combination of leafy kale, quinoa, soft and creamy butternut squash, with a little bit of sweetness from dried cranberries. Oh, and we can’t forget the balsamic vinaigrette, which seems to be my go-to dressing for practically every salad. It is so perfect with this combo.
This is the perfect dish to bring to a potluck, or to serve friends. You can get creative and use whatever veggies you want, as well as different grains. You could sub rice or millet for the quinoa, use swiss chard instead of kale, or even sub roasted cauliflower for the butternut. But I must say, this combo is pretty amazing, so I think you should try this one first.
I could live on this type of giant winter salad during the colder months. And do you know how you could really party hard?! Put a fried egg on top. Oh snap.
Ingredients
- 3/4 cup uncooked quinoa
- 1 1/2 cups vegetable broth or water
- 2 cups butternut squash, chopped
- 1-2 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
- 2-3 large kale leaves
- 1/2 cup dried cranberries
- salt and black pepper
- 2-3 tbsp balsamic vinegar
- 3-4 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
- pinch of salt and pepper
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 400 degrees. Place the chopped butternut squash on a lined baking sheet, drizzle the olive oil over them, and season with a small pinch of salt and pepper. Roast for 30 minutes, until the squash is just starting to turn brown and becomes soft all the way through.
- To make the quinoa, combine the quinoa and vegetable broth in a medium saucepan. Season with a small pinch of pepper, and turn the heat on high and cover. Once it comes to a boil, turn the heat down to low and let it simmer for 15-20 minutes, until all of the liquid is absorbed.
- Once the butternut and quinoa are both cooked, it is time to assemble the salad. Get a large bowl or serving dish, remove the kale from the stems and chop them up into small pieces. Add the kale to the bottom of the bowl, and add the quinoa and butternut squash on top of the kale while they are still warm. This will help to wilt the kale a little bit without having to cook it. Add the cranberries and give the whole thing a toss to combine.
- Whisk the vinaigrette ingredients together in a small bowl, and pour the mixture all over the salad. Toss again to combine and serve!
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