Salad, salad in the bowl, who is the “fall”-est salad of all? Um, that would be this salad!
This is the salad to end all fall salads- it starts with a baby kale base, then add quinoa, roasted butternut squash, dried cranberries and goat cheese. Top all of that with an apple cider based dressing, and you have the most delicious “Meatless Monday” meal with the flavors of the season!
There have been a lot of fall salad recipes floating around on Pinterest and food blogs recently, so I was inspired to create a version of my own using some of my favorite fall flavors. Though this is a meatless meal, the protein from the quinoa and the butternut squash makes it a heartier salad -MJD gave it his guy stamp of approval! The recipe below makes 3-4 dinner salad size servings. You could also serve this as a side salad to a larger group if you wanted.
Are you ready for the ultimate fall salad? I thought so! Let’s get to it…
xoxo, Jenna
You’ll Need:
- 2 cups butternut squash
- 1/2 cup quinoa
- 5 cups baby kale
- 1/3 cup dried cranberries
- 1/3 cup goat cheese crumbles
- Drizzle olive oil
- Salt to taste
- Apple Cider Dressing (via Glitter Guide– this will make plenty of dressing, you will have leftovers)
- 2 tablespoons apple cider
- 2 tablespoons apple cider vinegar
- 2 tablespoons maple syrup
- 1/4 cup olive oil
To Make:
Whisk together dressing by combining cider, vinegar and maple syrup. Gradually add in olive oil and whisk. Store in fridge until ready to use.
Pre-heat oven to 375 Degrees. Peel and cut your butternut squash into similarly sized cubes. In a single layer, add to baking sheet and toss with a drizzle of olive oil and salt to taste. Roast in oven for 30-35 minutes until browning.
While squash is roasting, prepare your quinoa following your typical quinoa preparation method. My preferred method is 1 serving of quinoa to 1.5 water.
Wash baby kale and add to salad bowl.
Allow quinoa to cool for a few minutes before adding to kale. Mix well.
Once roasted, toss butternut squash in with kale and quinoa.
Top with dried cranberries and goat cheese.
Add dressing as you wish and enjoy!
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