Looking for a protein packed side or main dish for your Thanksgiving table? This is it! So colorful, so healthy-you will want this for all your holidays! This salad does take several steps to prepare, but the final dish is worth it! You can make all of it ahead of time and assemble the day of. The quinoa, lentils, and roasted veggies can be done 2-3 days ahead of time, as can the dressing and pecans (so you can start prepping now!). The last step is to combine everything the day you want to serve it. This will help to avoid the dressing making everything too mushy.
Soak your quinoa! I find that most people who have had bad experiences cooking quinoa haven’t soaked it. Quinoa is a seed, not a grain. Soaking allows the seed coat to open, softening the seed. This allows it to cook better and allow more moisture into it, preventing a hard and bitter result. Quinoa is packed with protein, as are the lentils in this salad. Both are great for healing and repairing the body.
The lentils in this recipe are AMAZING! I actually made them for this first, and started eating them all, so I had to make a separate batch! Lentils are awesome to have on hand for topping salads, eating on their own, or stuffed on top of baked sweet potatoes or portobello mushrooms, as shown below. Yumma! I go the idea for the bay leaf from Terry Hope Romero’s book: Salad Samurai. Great ideas in that book!
Ingredients:
To cook the lentils:
- 1 cup brown or green lentils, equals about 3 cups cooked
- 2 1/4 cups of water
- 2 bay leaves
- 1/2 tsp salt
- 1/2 tsp thyme
Quinoa:
- 1 cup quinoa, soaked for at least 3 hours (or more) and drained
- 2 cups of water
- pinch salt
To roast the squash:
- 3 cups of cubed butternut squash, about 1-1 1/2#
- 1/2 tbsp grape seed oil
- 1 tsp dried thyme, or 1 tbsp fresh
- 1/4 tsp salt
- freshly ground pepper
- 1/2 cup (or up to 1 cup) fresh/frozen cranberries (alternatively, can use 3/4 cup dried cranberries or cherries, I’d soak them if doing this)
- parchment paper
- 3 cups spinach or kale (if kale-chop and sauté this, see instructions)
Miso Dressing (will make more than you need, about 1 cup, great on salad):
- 1/2 c organic white miso (more mild than other forms)
- 2 tbsp freshly chopped ginger
- 2 cloves of garlic
- 1/2 c water
- 6 tbsp organic brown rice vinegar (or rice wine vinegar)
- 2 tbsp orange juice
Pecans:
- 1 cup of peans, halved or chopped
- 1 tbsp maple syrup
Additional For Assembly:
- 1/2 cup minced red onions
- 1-2 tbsp freshly chopped parsley
- Salt/pepper to taste
- Zest of 1 lemon
Instructions:
- To make lentils: Rinse and remove any debris: place into a pot with water, bay leaves, salt, thyme and bring to boil. Reduce heat to simmer and cook until lentils are tender, about 20 minutes. Be sure not to overcook, and taste for doneness. If done before water has been absorbed, drain excess water, can be done 2-3 days ahead.
- While lentils are cooking, make quinoa: Rinse quinoa and place soaked quinoa into pot with water and salt. Bring to a boil, reduce heat to simmer until quinoa has absorbed water, or tastes tender (check at 20 minutes), can be done 2-3 days ahead. If there’s extra water, drain it.
- While quinoa and lentils are cooking, roast squash: preheat oven to 400 degrees. Place piece of parchment on a baking sheet (this prevents squash from getting too soft and smooshed. Toss squash with thyme, oil, salt, and pepper and place on sheet. Let roast for about 10 minutes before adding cranberries. Add cranberries and cook until squash is tender and cranberries have popped/opened, about another 10 minutes.
- Place spinach into large bowl. When squash is done, pour into bowl with spinach and toss until wilted. Alternatively, you can do this right on the cookie sheet (this can be done 1-2 days ahead). If using kale, sauté with water. If desired, can sauté onions if raw isn’t preferred in final assembly.
- Toast pecans at 375 degrees for 5-7 minutes. When slightly toasted, remove from oven, drizzle syrup over the top and toss to coat. Can be done 2-3 days ahead.
- Make miso dressing by placing all ingredients into a blender, like a Vitamix. Blend until smooth. Can be done 3-5 days ahead of time. If making as written, you will have left over dressing (you’ll be happy to have it on hand for salads or left over grains/beans). You only need about 1/2 of the dressing.
- Day of: place quinoa, lentils, onions, fresh lemon zest, and dried cranberries/cherries (if using in place of fresh cranberries) in a large bowl. Add miso dressing and toss to coat, about 1/2 cup. Gently add in squash mixture. Garnish with freshly chopped parsley and pecans, or place nuts on side if nut allergies are possible.
Great for a crowd, we plan on making 1 1/2 times this recipe for our Thanksgiving.
Make some extra to have as a healthy lunch this week. Below are roasted portobello mushrooms topped with extra lentils and the roasted butternut squash mixture (plus our current obsession, pomegranates).
Nutritional Benefits:
- Packed with plant-based protein, great for healing, almost 9 g/serving
- High in fiber, excellent for regulating blood sugar, digestive health, lowering blood pressure, and increasing satiety, 9.2 g/serving
- Butternut Squash & Cranberry mixture: great source of Vitamin A and C, Vitamin A good for bone, eye, skin, and dental health, Vitamin C, boosts immunity-both are antioxidants;18% Vitamin A, 12% Vitamin C
- Vegan and Gluten Free; Anti-inflammatory
- Very low in fat (if omitting the nuts); cholesterol free-great for heart health and diabetes
- Great source of plant-based calcium, 35%, which is better absorbed by the body than animal sources
- Great source of plant-based 20% iron, important for oxygenation of blood
- Great source of 610 mg of potassium; important for kidney and nervous system function; regulating blood pressure
Nutrition Info is calculated without dressing and nuts. For dressing nutritional info, see link to Ginger Miso Dressing
- 1 cup brown or green lentils, equals about 3 cups cooked
- 2¼ cups of water
- 2 bay leaves
- ½ tsp salt
- ½ tsp thyme
- 1 cup quinoa, soaked for at least 3 hours (or more) and drained
- 2 cups of water
- pinch salt
- 3 cups of cubed butternut squash, about 1-1½#
- ½ tbsp grape seed oil
- 1 tsp dried thyme, or 1 tbsp fresh
- ¼ tsp salt
- freshly ground pepper
- ½ cup fresh/frozen cranberries-or up to 1 cup (alternatively, can use ¾ cup dried cranberries or cherries, I'd soak them if doing this)
- parchment paper
- 3 cups spinach or kale (if kale-chop and sauté this, see instructions)
- ½ c organic white miso (more mild than other forms)
- 2 tbsp freshly chopped ginger
- 2 cloves of garlic
- ½ c water
- 6 tbsp organic brown rice vinegar (or rice wine vinegar)
- 2 tbsp orange juice
- 1 cup of peans, halved or chopped
- 1 tbsp maple syrup
- ½ cup minced red onions
- 1-2 tbsp freshly chopped parsley
- Salt/pepper to taste
- Zest of 1 lemon
- To make lentils: Rinse and remove any debris: place into a pot with water, bay leaves, salt, thyme and bring to boil. Reduce heat to simmer and cook until lentils are tender, about 20 minutes. Be sure not to overcook, and taste for doneness. If done before water has been absorbed, drain excess water, can be done 2-3 days ahead.
- While lentils are cooking, make quinoa: Rinse quinoa and place soaked quinoa into pot with water and salt. Bring to a boil, reduce heat to simmer until quinoa has absorbed water, or tastes tender (check at 20 minutes), can be done 2-3 days ahead. If there's extra water, drain it.
- While quinoa and lentils are cooking, roast squash: preheat oven to 400 degrees. Place piece of parchment on a baking sheet (this prevents squash from getting too soft and smooshed. Toss squash with thyme, oil, salt, and pepper and place on sheet. Let roast for about 10 minutes before adding cranberries. Add cranberries and cook until squash is tender and cranberries have popped/opened, about another 10 minutes.
- Place spinach into large bowl. When squash is done, pour into bowl with spinach and toss until wilted. Alternatively, you can do this right on the cookie sheet (this can be done 1-2 days ahead). If using kale, sauté with water. If desired, can sauté onions if raw isn't preferred in final assembly.
- Toast pecans at 375 degrees for 5-7 minutes. When slightly toasted, remove from oven, drizzle syrup over the top and toss to coat. Can be done 2-3 days ahead.
- Make miso dressing by placing all ingredients into a blender, like a Vitamix. Blend until smooth. Can be done 3-5 days ahead of time. If doubling, you will have left over dressing (you'll be happy to have it on hand for salads or left over grains/beans)
- Day of: place quinoa, lentils, onions, lemon zest, and dried cranberries/cherries (if using in place of fresh cranberries) in a large bowl. Add miso dressing and toss to coat, about ½ cup. Gently add in squash mixture. Garnish with freshly chopped parsley and pecans, or place nuts on side if nut allergies are possible. Refrigerate for a few hours before serving.
