Fall Quinoa Salad Recipe – Rachel Cooks®

I don’t assume it’s any secret that I really like quinoa. I nearly at all times prepare dinner up a complete bag and freeze it for fast and simple meals. When you’ve got an Instantaneous Pot stress cooker, cooking quinoa is tremendous straightforward.

Quinoa is so versatile and you’ll add it to plenty of recipes, from breakfast to dinner. I like to make a triple batch of quinoa pancakes and freeze them for a simple nutritious breakfast. They’re so good topped with cinnamon apple compote or applesauce. You’ll discover stuffed peppers, chili, and extra at Rachel Cooks, all with quinoa as the primary ingredient.

Flavorful Fall quinoa salad

A hearty autumn recipe. This quinoa salad is an ideal recipe for fall. It stars roasted butternut squash, a winter squash that’s harvested in late fall. Candy dried cranberries, crunchy roasted pepitas, briny feta cheese, and bacon … what extra may you need?!

Tasty home made French dressing. The straightforward French dressing with olive oil, apple cider vinegar, maple syrup, and Dijon mustard has fall vibes, too, and can be utilized with different salads. It’s a cinch to whip up a batch of this dressing.

Could be made forward. Fall quinoa salad will be made as much as a few days upfront which makes it good for lunchboxes or a fast meal once you get house from work. I normally retailer the bacon and pepitas individually in order that they keep crisp.

Loads of methods to make it your personal. This quinoa salad, like most salads, will be tweaked and tailored to your loved ones’s preferences. You should use a special grain, make it vegetarian, add greens, change up the cheese or nuts, and so forth. It’s actually fairly versatile.

Ingredient Notes

• Quinoa: Both white quinoa or tri-color quinoa is ok. You’ll want 1 cup of raw quinoa which makes 3 cups of cooked quinoa. It’s straightforward to make and will be cooked forward of time. Comply with the package deal instructions to prepare dinner it. Quinoa must be rinsed with water earlier than cooking to take away a bitter coating.
• Butternut Squash: This bell-shaped winter squash is clean and light-weight tan on the skin, with darkish orange flesh inside. Search for a squash that weighs round 2 kilos. Don’t fear for those who can solely discover bigger squash. You’ll be able to roast the additional and use it for an additional meal.
• Bacon: I really like the flavour that bacon brings to this salad. I normally purchase center-cut bacon as a result of it’s a bit leaner. You’ll want about 6 slices.
• Dried Cranberries: Chewy and candy, dried cranberries present the right textural distinction to the tender squash and quinoa.
• Cheese: The recipe requires blue cheese however actually, any kind of cheese works nicely on this salad. Select your favourite.
• Roasted Pepitas: Should you take away the laborious outer shells of pumpkin seeds, what’s left is inexperienced seeds known as pepitas. Like most nuts and seeds, they style greatest once they’re roasted. You should use sunflower seeds, pecans, walnuts, or almonds for those who favor.
• Maple Mustard French dressing: The salad is dressed with a home made French dressing made with olive oil, maple syrup, apple cider vinegar, Dijon mustard, black pepper, and minced shallot. I really like the the autumn flavors of this French dressing!

How To Make This Fall Quinoa Salad

I normally multi-task when making this salad. Whereas the quinoa cooks, you’ll be able to roast the squash and prepare dinner the bacon within the oven on the identical time.

Prepare dinner the quinoa. Comply with the package deal instructions for cooking the quinoa. It normally takes half-hour or much less, begin to end.

Prep the squash. Minimize the squash in half, from stem to backside. Scrape out the seeds and use a vegetable peeler or sharp paring knife to take away the outer peeling. Minimize the squash into roughly half-inch cubes. In a big mixing bowl, coat the cubed squash with olive oil, and evenly season with salt and pepper.

Roast the squash. Unfold the cubed squash on a big rimmed baking sheet, or a sheet pan. Bake in a preheated oven (400°F) for a couple of half hour, stirring a few times. The squash must be tender and evenly browned.

Bake the bacon. I really like you could prepare dinner the bacon within the oven concurrently the squash. Prepare the slices on a foil-lined sheet pan and pop them within the oven on a special rack. It should take fifteen to twenty minutes (there’s no must flip the bacon!). Keep watch over it in direction of the tip of the baking time so it doesn’t get too finished.

Make the French dressing. In a small bowl or measuring cup, whisk collectively the olive oil, maple syrup, Dijon mustard, cider vinegar, and minced shallot. Add just a few grinds of black pepper.

Assemble the salad. In a big bowl, toss collectively the cooked quinoa, roasted squash, dried cranberries, cheese, and pepitas. You wish to use a delicate contact to keep away from crushing the squash. Add the French dressing and evenly stir till mixed.

Serve. The salad will be served straight away whereas nonetheless heat. High it with the crumbled bacon and pepitas. Should you favor, refrigerate the salad till you’re able to serve it. Add the bacon and pepitas proper earlier than you serve it.

Recipe Variations

• Add inexperienced energy. Combine in finely chopped greens of your alternative, like spinach, kale, arugula, and so forth.
• Not a fan of dried cranberries? Substitute dried apricots, dried cherries, raisins, or dates. Chopped apples or sliced grapes can be good on this salad, too.
• Use a special grain. You can also make this salad with tremendous couscous, farro, brown rice, or one other grain of your alternative.
• Take a shortcut. As a substitute making your personal French dressing, purchase an analogous dressing.
• Extra fall salad recipes: Do this related but completely different salad, farro salad with butternut squash. This roasted cauliflower salad with arugula and candy potato (no grains) is so good, too! We additionally love this heat kale salad with roasted root greens.

Get a head begin: Quinoa will be cooked and refrigerated for as much as per week. Bacon will be fried forward of time, too. Attempt baked bacon. I wish to prepare dinner an entire package deal and freeze the additional so as to add to sandwiches and salads. The butternut squash will be prepped forward. Peel and dice the squash; refrigerate for as much as per week.

Refrigerate: The assembled salad will preserve within the fridge for at the very least 4 days in a coated container. I normally retailer the bacon and pepitas individually and add them to the salad proper earlier than serving in order that they keep crisp.

Prepare dinner ModeStop your display screen from going darkish

• Prepare dinner quinoa in keeping with package deal instructions. One cup of raw quinoa will make 3 cups cooked. Cool barely. You’ll be able to prepare dinner the quinoa a day or two forward in order for you.

  1 cup raw quinoa, or 3 cups cooked quinoa

• Whereas quinoa is cooking, preheat oven to 400°F. Evenly spray a big rimmed sheet pan with nonstick spray. Peel squash (I exploit a vegetable peeler), reduce in half, and scrape out seeds. Minimize squash into beneficiant ½ inch cubes. You need to have about 6 cups of diced squash.

  1 butternut squash, about 2 lbs.

• In a big bowl, mix the cubed squash, olive oil, kosher salt and pepper. Toss till squash is coated with oil. Prepare squash in a good layer on ready pan. Bake for 30 to 35 minutes, stirring midway via, till squash is fork tender and evenly browned.

  1 tablespoon olive oil, ¼ teaspoon kosher salt, ¼ teaspoon pepper

• The bacon can bake within the oven concurrently the squash. To bake bacon, line a rimmed baking sheet with foil. Lay strips of bacon on foil in a single layer. Bake for 15 to twenty minutes, or till crisp. Watch intently in direction of the tip of cooking time so bacon doesn’t burn. Take away bacon to paper towel-lined plate to empty. When cool, break or reduce bacon into bite-sized items.

  6 slices heart reduce bacon, about 6 oz.

• Make French dressing: In a small bowl, mix olive oil, minced shallots, apple cider vinegar, maple syrup, Dijon mustard, and black pepper. Whisk French dressing substances till mixed.

  ¼ cup additional virgin olive oil, 3 tablespoons finely minced shallot, 2 tablespoons apple cider vinegar, 2 tablespoons pure maple syrup, 2 teaspoons Dijon mustard, ¼ teaspoon coarse floor black pepper, or to style

• In a big mixing bowl, evenly toss collectively cooked quinoa, roasted squash, bacon, cranberries, cheese, and pepitas; toss. Add French dressing, toss evenly to mix.

  ½ cup dried cranberries, ½ cup crumbled blue cheese, ⅓ cup roasted pepitas

• The nice and cozy salad will be served instantly, at room temperature, or chilled. Refrigerate till able to serve. If making ready upfront, retailer bacon and pepitas individually and add proper earlier than serving.

• Cheese: Many sorts of cheese go nicely with this salad. We suggest blue cheese, gorgonzola, feta, goat cheese, or smoked gouda (finely diced) however you probably have one other favourite, be happy to substitute it.
• Make it vegetarian: Omit bacon. Should you like, add a can (15.5 oz.) of rinsed and drained garbanzo beans (chickpeas).
• Storage: Refrigerate the salad in a coated container for as much as 4 days. For greatest outcomes, retailer the bacon and pepitas individually and add them to the salad proper earlier than serving, in order that they keep crisp.

Serving: 1cup, Energy: 334kcal, Carbohydrates: 39g, Protein: 12g, Fats: 16g, Saturated Fats: 4g, Polyunsaturated Fats: 3g, Monounsaturated Fats: 8g, Trans Fats: 0.003g, Ldl cholesterol: 6mg, Sodium: 632mg, Potassium: 613mg, Fiber: 5g, Sugar: 12g, Vitamin A: 12124IU, Vitamin C: 24mg, Calcium: 123mg, Iron: 2mg

Diet info is robotically calculated, so ought to solely be used as an approximation.

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