Gorgeous Holiday Quinoa

Beauty that tastes delicious!

Today's recipe is perfect for the holidays. It's a beautiful, lipsmackingly yummy quinoa recipe featuring roasted butternut squash, cranberries and pecans.

Classic winter holiday flavors.

Gorgeous color.

A fresh and eye catching dish to grace your Friendsgiving, Thanksgiving, or Christmas Eve table. Or even your Christmas Day buffet. 

Or your New Year's Eve shindig. You name it.

Serve as a colorful vegan main dish - or a side dish.

Or stuff a vegetable (it would be fab and hip served in roasted bell pepper halves, or roasted acorn squash).

Note: Red quinoa has a milder taste than the standard quinoa. So if you think you don't like quinoa, try the Inca red.

I suspect you'll convert to quinoa love.

Cheers!

Karina xo

Karina's Gorgeous Holiday Red Quinoa Recipe with Roasted Butternut Squash, Cranberries and Pecans Recipe originally published January 2010.

I find red quinoa is a tad crunchier than the usual quinoa I cook, so I add a bit more water to make it softer. If you like your quinoa al dente, use a grain to liquid ratio of 1:2 with red quinoa. If you prefer it a little softer, add another 1/4 cup water. See more at: How to Cook Quinoa the Easy Way.

Ingredients:

1 cup red quinoa

1 smallish butternut squash, peeled and diced

1/2 cup fresh or frozen cranberries, halved or chopped as you prefer

1/2 of a medium red onion, diced fine

1 clove of garlic, minced
Olive oil
Pure maple syrup, to taste
Sea salt

A sprinkle of ginger and/or curry, to taste

1/2 cup chopped pecans
2 tablespoons fresh chopped parsley

Sea salt and ground pepper, to taste

Instructions:

Preheat the oven to 375ºF.

Rinse the quinoa thoroughly in a fine sieve. Cook the red quinoa in a rice cooker, using a 1:2 ratio of 1 cup red quinoa to 2 cups water. As mentioned above, if you like it softer, add an additional 1/4 to 1/2 cup water. If you don't have a rice cooker, cook the quinoa on the stove in a pot, according to package directions.

In a medium roasting pan add the butternut squash, cranberries, onion and garlic. Drizzle with a dash of olive oil, to coat. Add a teaspoon or two of pure maple syrup- not too much. Sprinkle with sea salt, ginger and a dash of curry. Toss everything together. Roast in the top half of the oven until the squash is tender- about 15 to 20 minutes.

Meanwhile, heat a skillet and lightly toast the pecans, till fragrant.

In a large warmed serving bowl, add in the cooked quinoa and the roasted butternut mixture. Add in the toasted pecans, chopped parsley. Taste test and adjust seasoning. Drizzle with some fruity extra virgin olive oil and toss to coat. Serve warm.

Makes 4 servings.

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Recipe Source: glutenfreegoddessrecipes.com

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More quinoa recipes from food bloggers:

Quinoa Salad with Tomato, Feta and Parsley from The Perfect Pantry

Lemony Quinoa with Butternut Squash at Fatfree Vegan Kitchen