Winter Grain Salad with Roasted Squash, Pomegranate, Feta, and Mint (Plus a bonus recipe!)

 This tasty recipe comes from Greta Podleski's latest cookbook, Yum & Yummer:  Ridiculously tasty recipes that'll blow your mind, but not your diet.  If you are like me and find yourself needing some inspiration for a winter salad, this might be it!  You can use any of the following grains:  quinoa, brown rice or wild rice (or a combo).  I chose quinoa.  The flavor combination was superb and I loved the contrast between the fresh herbs, feta, pomegranate, and butternut squash.  The dressing was delish, too, and I might make even a bit more.  I wasn't as careful about measuring the quinoa, so may have used a bit more than I needed to.  This would be a great salad for a potluck, too.

 I roasted the butternut squash and cooked the quinoa ahead of time.  You will need 4 cups of cubed butternut squash for this salad.  I used one butternut squash, and had 8 cups.  I roasted it all and used the other 4 cups for another recipe (included below).

Preheat the oven to 400 degrees F.  Toss squash with 1 Tb. olive oil and a sprinkle of salt and pepper.  Place on a parchment lined baking sheet and bake for 20 minutes.  Stir half way through.  The squash is done when it is tender, but still has a bite.  Mine took longer than 20 minutes.

 I cooled the squash and quinoa and stored it in the fridge for at least a day.

 In a large bowl, combine 4 cups cooked, cooled grains, 4 cups squash (cooked and cooled), 1 cup pomegranate seeds, 1/3 cup chopped green onions (with white parts), 1/3 cup chopped fresh mint, 1/3 cup crumbled light or regular feta cheese.

 This salad already looks amazing.  Now you need to make the dressing.

 

Combine 2 Tb. olive oil, 2 Tb. freshly squeezed lemon juice, 1 Tb. pure maple syrup or liquid honey, 2 tsp. balsamic vinegar, 1/2 tsp grated orange zest (optional), and sea salt and pepper, to taste.

 Enjoy!

Bonus recipe:  Roasted Butternut Squash, Coconut, and Ginger Soup

I had the extra squash, so decided I would make a soup.  Here is what I used:

4 cups roasted butternut squash

1 onion, diced

2 carrots, diced

1 Tb. olive oil

1 Tb. fresh ginger

2 cloves garlic, minced

1 liter chicken stock (sodium reduced, if possible)

1 can coconut milk

salt and pepper, to taste 

Saute onion and carrots with 1 Tb. olive oil over medium heat, until softened.  Add garlic and ginger and cook for 5 more minutes.  Add chicken stock and butternut squash.  Bring to a boil and simmer for 20 minutes.  Puree (I used a braun hand blender); add coconut milk and salt and pepper, to taste.  This soup is amazing!!