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Roasted Vegetable Quinoa Salad with Maple Balsamic Vinaigrette

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I have a roasted vegetable addiction but I am not going to apologize (don’t judge, I can think of worse things).  In fact, we are sure you are going to thank us for this one.  This roasted vegetable quinoa salad with maple balsamic vinaigrette is not only delicious, it’s really pretty (don’t you think so?) and makes a great dish to bring to a party or serve at your own.  Roasted vegetables are seriously one of my most favorite things to make and they go so well with so many different ingredients.  You’ve seen us do them in salads, as side dishes, mixed with different dressings, paired with pastas, meats and fish…the list goes on.  With this dish, we decided to mix some roasted vegetables with yep, you guessed it, another favorite here at GTK… quinoa.   We think the tri-color quinoa is so pretty when paired with the other brightly colored (and super yum) ingredients.  However, you can use any type of quinoa.  We suggest cutting the sweet potatoes and the brussel sprouts into bite sized pieces before you roast them.  This will help them cook quickly and be ready to mix in the salad.  Just keep an eye on the veggies when they are in the oven so they don’t burn.

The maple balsamic vinaigrette pairs perfectly with this salad because it’s slightly sweet and it brings out the flavors of the roasted vegetables.  If you have any leftover dressing store it in the fridge and pour it oven an arugula salad the next day. You should probably just plan on making a little more so you can have it two days in a row, you will be thanking us for this one!!

Stephanie Heymann Photography

Roasted Vegetable Quinoa Salad with Maple Balsamic Vinaigrette
 
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Serves: 6-8
Ingredients
For the Quinoa Salad:
  • 3 C cooked quinoa
  • 1 C roasted brussel sprouts-halved
  • 1 C roasted sweet potatoes - diced
  • ½ C manchego cheese - cubed
  • ⅓ C slivered almond - toasted
  • ¼ C dried tart cherries
  • 1 Tbsp good quality olive oil
  • kosher salt
For the Maple Balsamic Dressing:
  • 1 tsp dijon mustard
  • ¼ C good quality olive oil
  • 1 Tbsp pure maple syrup
  • 2 tsp white balsamic vinegar
  • salt and pepper to taste
Instructions
For the Salad:
  1. Preheat oven to 425°. Clean the brussel sprouts, cut off stems and outer leaves, then slice in half. Place on baking sheet. Peel skin off of sweet potato and dice into bite sized pieces then place on baking sheet with the brussel sprouts. Drizzle vegetables with olive oil and sprinkle with kosher salt.
  2. Roast in oven for roughly 35 minutes, checking periodically to make sure they don't burn. Once cooked, set aside to cool
  3. Cook quinoa according to package directions then allow to cool. Once cooled, combine quinoa, roasted vegetables, cheese, cherries and almonds in a medium bowl.
For the Maple Balsamic Dressing:
  1. In a small bowl, combine all ingredients and whisk until blended.
  2. Drizzle with desired amount of dressing and toss to coat.

No-Bake Chocolate Coconut Date Bars

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No-bake chocolate coconut date bars. Trust us when we tell you that you can have a healthy candy bar!!  Seriously, these little gems are like nothing you have ever tasted before.  They are so rich and decadent and yet, they are made with clean, wholesome ingredients!!  Once again, a total WIN!  We love using dates as a natural sugar.  They are so versatile and offer the perfect amount of sweetness…actually, a lot of sweetness but we are not complaining.  Do you remember those little candy bars called an Almond Joy?  Well, these no bake chocolate coconut date bars are a take on those little candy bars but without all the freaky ingredients!  And, how awesome is a dessert that you don’t have to bake either?  You just mix the ingredients in a food processor, press it into a baking dish, melt some chocolate to smear on top and pop them in the fridge until they firm up and you are ready to cut them into squares.

So few ingredients and yet so amazingly delicious!!  Eating these right now! Buh bye!

 

 

 

Chocolate Coconut Date Bars
 
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Serves: 24 squares
Ingredients
  • ⅔ C raw, unsalted almonds
  • ½ C flaked unsweetened coconut
  • 25 medjool dates - pitted
  • 2 Tbsp cacao powder
  • 1 Tbsp coconut oil
  • ⅛ tsp salt
  • ½ C semi sweet chocolate chips
Instructions
  1. Place almonds in a food processor and pulse until finely ground. Add dates and process until finely ground and combined. Add coconut, cacao powder, coconut oil and salt and process until combined (texture will be sticky).
  2. Line an 8x8 baking dish with parchment paper. Press date mixture into pan. Melt chocolate chips in microwave safe bowl then spread chocolate over top of date mixture.
  3. Place pan in refrigerator for at least 1 hour. When ready to serve, remove date mixture from pan, place on cutting board and cut into small squares. Store in airtight container in fridge.

Mango Quinoa Salad

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I don’t know how it happened or when, but somewhere along the way I fell in love with this crazy food that reminds me a bit of brown rice and couscous all wrapped into one. It took me months to pronounce, quin-what??? Quinoa pronounced “keen-wha” is a gluten-free seed that is a complete protein, which provides all nine essential amino acids. Our bodies cannot produce these nine essential amino acids therefor, it must come from food. What does this all mean? Well, basically it means that it’s an uber healthy protein source that is nutty and rich and addicting! Yay, so it’s a win-win in our book. If you haven’t tried it, it’s time!! Oh, and one other great thing about quinoa is it’s great served hot or cold.

kariquinoasalad

Stephanie Heymann Photography

A great place to break in your quinoa taste buds is with this Mango Quinoa Salad. It’s a cold salad filled with quinoa of course, sweet mangos, endamame, golden raisins, and toasted almonds tossed with honey lime vinaigrette. Bring this salad to your next backyard BBQ or dinner party and it will be a huge hit. Extra bonus, you will sound really cool since you now know how to pronounce it!

quinoasalad

Stephanie Heymann Photography

Mango Quinoa Salad
 
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Serves: 6-8
Ingredients
  • 4 C cooked red quinoa (can use any color - cook according to package instructions and cool)
  • 2 mangos, chopped into ½ inch cubes
  • ⅓ C golden raisins
  • ½ C cooked shelled endamame
  • ¼ C slivered toasted almonds
  • 2 green onions, chopped
  • S&P to taste
For the Honey Lime Vinaigrette:
  • juice of 2 large limes
  • 2 Tbsp honey
  • ⅓ C white balsamic vinegar
  • ¼ C good quality olive
Instructions
For the Honey Lime Vinaigrette:
  1. In a small bowl add all of the ingredients for the vinagrette except for the olive oil. Slowly drizzle the olive oil while whisking. Set aside
For the Quinoa Salad:
  1. In a large bowl add all quinoa salad ingredients except S&P. Add vinaigrette and stir to coat, season with S&P to taste. Refrigerate for at least 1 hour before serving.