Butternut Squash Quinoa Salad Stacks

Butternut Squash Qunioa Salad Stacks

Sometimes working with food can be great fun, almost play like. Playing, we’ll call it creating with different textures and flavors is what happened with this particular recipe. It all began with a trip to the farmers market. As I made my way among my favorite farmers and vendors I noticed a tub of very long necked butternut squash and thought, hmmm, I could stack that, and so began this idea. The quinoa is packed with spinach, dried cherries and walnuts, then everything is assembled and drizzled with a simple balsamic glaze. The sweetness of the cherries against the savory silky squash pops with flavor making this a delightful respite from the everyday typical salad. Even better is that these butternut squash quinoa salad stacks are nutritious, healthy and delicious.

*I roasted a whole butternut squash but only used the “neck” part for this recipe. We love roasted veggies so I will be incorporating the rest of the squash into another meal;)

Quinoa and Spinach

Author: Cheri

Butternut Squash Qunioa Salad Stacks

ingredients:

• 1 medium butternut squash (longest neck you can find)
• 1 cup tri-color quinoa, rinse thoroughly
• 2 cups fresh spinach, cut into thin strips
• 1/3 cup dried cherries (cut into small pieces)
• 1/3 lightly toasted walnuts, coarsely chopped
• Balsamic glaze (you can make you own, I bought mine at Trader Joe’s)

instructions:

1. Preheat oven to 400F. Prepare a baking sheet with aluminum foil, for easy clean-up.
2. Peel, then slice butternut squash into ½ to ¾ inch thick slices. Place on prepared baking sheet, drizzle with olive oil and a sprinkle of salt. Bake for 25 to 35 minutes. Remove from oven set aside.
3. In the meantime, prepare quinoa. Add quinoa to 2 cups of water, bring to a boil, let simmer approx. 12 minutes. Remove from heat, let steam for 10 minutes.
4. In the same pan that you cooked the quinoa in add the spinach, stir and let wilt. Wait 10 more minutes then add in cherries and walnuts.
5. To assemble, place a scoop of the quinoa mixture on a plate and then add a butternut round, top it with another scoop of quinoa, another round, (I made mine 3 rounds high). Drizzle lightly with balsamic glaze. Enjoy!

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