Quinoa Salad With Crispy Roast Butternut Squash and Hazelnuts

This Quinoa Salad With Crispy Roast Butternut Squash and Hazelnuts is a simple vegan meal the whole family will love.
You know those days where you just don’t feel like cooking dinner?

It happens to me at least once a week.

I stare at my full pantry as if it were empty, and wish I could just tell the family that dinner was canceled that evening.

I want to try that once, just for fun.

With two tween boys, I’m sure that would go over smashingly.

Usually, the problem has less to do with not wanting to cook and more to do with not wanting to think about WHAT I’m going to cook.

I am a planner by nature and do much better when I have everything all mapped out.

Invariably, something gets eaten that I need for the planned recipe, and there I am – staring at the pantry wondering what I’m going to make. (And kicking myself for not hiding the cheese under the kale.)

Since buying produce is my happy place, I always have sweet potatoes and butternut squash lurking on the bottom pantry shelf.

Lately, they’ve been laughing at me a bit.

Threatening to go bad before I can use them.

It has been an unusually warm winter here, and though I haven’t missed the cold a bit, I don’t find myself making the same foods I usually do this time of year.

I’ve always loved butternut squash, but they haven’t made an appearance on my dinner table in longer than I can remember.

I love meals like this Quinoa Salad With Crispy Roast Butternut Squash and Hazelnuts.

Delicious, easy to make (mostly hands-off time), and I feel so virtuous using the contents of my pantry.

Plus there is the whole feeding the family thing.

Because as much as I don’t always love getting dinner on the table, it does make me happy to see them eating right.

Quinoa Salad With Crispy Roast Butternut Squash and Hazelnuts

Ingredients

• 2 cups butternut squash, cut into ½ inch cubes
• 1 tbsp olive oil
• I cup quinoa, rinsed
• 1 1/2 cups vegetable broth
• ½ cup finely chopped mint
• ½ cup finely chopped parsley
• 1 cup raw hazelnuts
• zest from ½ lemon
• 1 tbsp olive oil

Instructions

1. Preheat oven to 350F.
2. Place pumpkin on roasting tray, toss with olive oil, roast 20 minutes or until brown and crispy. Allow to cool.
3. Meanwhile, combine quinoa and broth in a saucepan and bring to a simmer. Reduce heat to low and cover. Cook for 20 – 25 minutes, until cooked through. Remove from heat and allow to sit covered for 5 more minutes.
4. While quinoa cooks, toast hazelnuts in a pan until fragrant but not browned.
5. Crush the hazelnuts until they are rough halves and quarters.
6. Once quinoa and pumpkin is cooled, combine with other salad ingredients, adding mint and hazelnuts at the ends.
7. Dress with lemon juice, olive oil, and salt to taste.

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