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


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!
Created using The Recipes Generator

Comments

  1. WOW! This is so appetizing to my eye and not hard at all to do, after reading your recipe. I'm liking this a lot!

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  2. Hi Sandra, I sure Cheri will be happy to hear from you. This squash qunioa stack she made was fantastic. The presentation was as good as anything she has ever done. I hope you and Rick had a great holiday. Don

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    Replies
    1. Hey Don, Cheri's selection this time around is very appealing! Will send you two a missive soon to play ketchup...er catch up! Way to go Cheri!

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  3. Your stack is picture perfect and I am sure it tastes fantastic. Your love of food comes through.

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    1. Thanks Gerlinde, I've been on a little quinoa bender;)

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  4. These squash salad stacks with quinoa look so adorable and healthy.

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  5. I love butternut squash and quinoa so this is a winner for me. PS you have a typo in the title xx

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  6. How delicious and moreish! Wish I could still get some butternut squash at this time of the year.

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    Replies
    1. Thanks Angie, this time of year is a good time to grow veggies in the desert;)

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  7. Chari:

    Playing with food is such a wonderful pass time. I love how you came up with the idea for these stacks. And they look delicious.

    Thank you so much.

    Dena

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    Replies
    1. Cheri:

      Sorry for the typo in the above comment. Of course I know he correct spelling of your name.
      All the best.

      D

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    2. No worries Dena, it's happens to us all. Take care and have a wonderful week.

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  8. You outdid yourself! This not only looks delicious, but has a WOW factor as well.
    Amalia
    xo

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    Replies
    1. I made it! I got so many points for the beautiful presentation. Thanks again for sharing.
      Amalia
      xo

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  9. So creative and loaded with my favorites! I could eat butternut squash everyday. Love this and so pretty too.

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    Replies
    1. Thanks Tricia, butternut squash is one of my favorites too!

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  10. Fantastic combination of flavors and textures, Cheri! And so healthy!

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    Replies
    1. Thanks David, it's hard trying to balance all the cookies with all the salads but somehow I am managing;)

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  11. What a clever idea. It looks pretty and is perfect for this time of the year.

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  12. How clever! I'll bet the nuts and dried cherries are the perfect compliment!

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  13. Stunning and I bet super tasty, I love all the flavours and textures in this dish. Happy New Year :)

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  14. What a fun recipe and so good for you! I eat a lot of squash and root vegetables as it is but this has me wanting to make some quinoa asap!

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  15. i was so impressed by this plate on instagram and i'm digging the recipe! bravo. :)

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  16. Cheri, this is a beautiful dish and such a wonderful combination of ingredients. Awesome healthy comfort food recipe :)

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  17. Very creative Cheri, it looks delicious, pretty too! I will be shopping for butternut squash soon! Take care

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  18. This vegan recipe is such a celebration of flavor! With butternut as the star even the meat eaters will be happy.

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  19. A beautiful and healthy salad, Cheri! I would love this salad for my lunch!

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  20. It IS fun to play with your food, isn't it? Plus you get to eat your creations when you're finished. :-) This looks wonderful -- just loaded with flavor. Thanks!

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  21. I love squash and stacks because what better way to eat food than in a tower? Love your filling and can't wait to try this!

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  22. What a fun recipe! I will be watching for a long neck squash so I can try this!

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  23. What a great dish! I love this post !! Butternut squash is so under rated and we need to eat more of it....

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  24. Food is always fun to play with this. I love this recipe, sounds delicious.

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  25. It looks awesome and sounds just delicious! Thank you for this great recipe idea!

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  26. This comment has been removed by the author.

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  27. I love quinoa but I'm not a fan of squash, I guess I could use carrots or sweet potato instead!

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  28. I love anything with dried cherries, and balsamic glaze! This sounds like an awesome dish and really so simple to make!

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  29. What a great idea! I love all the ingredients here, and the balsamic glaze sounds delicious.

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  30. This is a really beautiful and creative dish!

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  32. WOW! This is so appetizing to my eye and not hard at all to do, after reading your recipe. I'm liking this a lot!

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  33. That's Looks very delicious and tasty, thanks for sharing with us your great Recipe.

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  34. I love all type of salad recipe and this butternet squash quinoa is one of my favorite. I cooked this yesterday and all my family members have enjoyed eating this.
    Thank you so much for sharing!!

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  35. This looks so good. Thanks for sharing the recipe.

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  36. Dear Cheri, what a very creative and delicious dish you created! Love all the components of this recipe but love the presentation almost more!
    Well done, my friend!
    Hope all is well!
    Andrea

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  37. This dish looks delicious and easy to make. I'm pretty sure that my family will love this dish. Thank you for sharing this.

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  38. I love the presentation of all these healthy ingredients in one dish. I can only imagine how good it tastes. My grown kids are coming for dinner Friday night and this could be an interesting dish. Thanks

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