Hearty Vegan Salad (warm & roasted)

Posted by Katarina on March 1, 2016 in Recipes Uncategorized
hearty winter salad, vegan salad , salad, vegan, cranberry, butternut squash, quinoa, pumpkin seeds
Hearty Vegan Salad

I love me some salads but when it’s colder outside, they aren’t always that appealing.

To bulk up my salads for the winter, I add some sort of gluten free grain, nuts & seeds and sometimes fish or chicken. For all my vegan and vegetarian friends out there, here is one of my favorite hearty vegan salad recipes.

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Kale & Quinoa Salad

Yield: 4 servings

Ingredients

  • 1 bunch Kale
  • 1 small butternut squash
  • 3/4 cup cranberries (fresh or dried)
  • 3/4 cup pumpkin seeds (I prefer roasted & salted)
  • 1 cup quinoa
    • dressing:
  • olive oil
  • red wine vinegar / fresh squeezed lemon juice
  • salt & pepper to taste
  • *cayenne pepper if you like spice

Instructions

  1. Cook quinoa: boil 2 cups water, rinse quinoa, add to boiling water then reduce to simmer for 15 minutes (fluff with fork)
  2. Cook Butternut Squash: chop butternut squash into cubes (without skin) & bake tossed in a little olive oil on baking sheet at 400 ferinheight for 30 minutes
  3. Cut out bottom half of stem on each leaf, chop or rip kale into forkable pieces
  4. Massage the kale with your hands until it turns darker green (this helps with digestion and taste)
  5. Toss everything else in. Can be served warm or chilled.
http://www.createwithkla.com/hearty-vegan-salad/

It can be served with the warm butternut squash and quinoa or chilled!

TIPS:

To set yourself up for easy making, make a batch of quinoa for the whole week before hand and you can even cook the butternut squash a couple of days in advanced too.

I like to pair this with a delicious soup for a well rounded warm lunch. That’s what we did during our Tofino Getaway Retreat. We had vegan (No) Cream of Mushroom Soup from Kiki’s Kitchen and then this Hearty Vegan Salad. It was perfect after going cold water surfing!

Enjoy!