Warm quinoa salad with roasted butternut squash…sigh…it’s recipes like these that make fall even sweeter. 🙂

I love walking down the street on a beautiful fall day, picking up my fruits and veggies and bringing them home to cook. This was one of those wonderful days.

I had a friend come over and wanted to try something new. I bought butternut squash and had no idea what to do with it. I was thinking about making squash spaghetti but go lazy. 😛 I still wanted to use the squash but wanted an easy, warm and yummy dish. Quinoa is always a good and quick option. It takes me about 10 minutes to make (I have a pressure cooker) and is so versatile that it goes with just about anything.

In the end, I decided to make a warm quinoa salad with roasted butternut squash.

The result: amazing!

Ingredients for Warm Quinoa Salad with Roasted Butternut Squash

• 1 squash (I used acorn, but you can choose your fancy)
• 1 cup quinoa
• 1.5 cups veggie broth
• 1 cup cooked chickpeas (or any other bean)
• 2 green onions, chopped
• 1/4 cup chopped cilantro
• 3 tbsp each olive oil
• 3 tbsp lemon juice and freshly squeezed lemon juice
• 1 tsp paprika
• 1 tsp chilli powder
• 1/4 cup roasted almonds (or any other nut), chopped (optional)
• 1/4 cup crumbled feta cheese (optional)
• fresh chopped mint for garnish
• salt & pepper to taste

Directions for Warm Quinoa Salad with Roasted Butternut Squash

1.  Preheat oven to 400F.
2.  Cut squash in half, remove seeds and bake for about 25 minutes.
3. Wash and cook quinoa in veggie broth
4. Add all ingredients to the cooked quinoa and toss together
5. Place quinoa mixture into the squash “bowl”
6.  Enjoy with your favourite side of greens

For a video of another acorn squash recipe (which is also pretty entertaining), this out.