GUYS! It's September. AKA Autumn. AKA bestseasonever. I know I know it's not technically fall yet but there are definitely leaves on the ground and trees starting to turn yellow and red so we're going for it! No harm in being prepared right?? So to start the season off right, we're taking the veggie route: Roasted Brussel Sprout and Yam Quinoa Salad.
This past week, we had a wonderfully rainy storm which meant it was the perfect time to spend my evenings curled under a blanket re-watching Game of Thrones, playing a little Donkey Kong on the Wii U, and creeping through pinterest looking for new autumn recipes to try. This Roasted Brussel Sprout and Yam Quinoa Salad has been bouncing around in my head for a while now, but I had to wait until the season allowed it. Just didn't seem right candying up yams and toasting pumpkin seeds in July.
Also, can you tell I'm on a health kick? Kale and Quinoa friends! But I just had to throw some creamy goat cheese there because that's necessary to life. I included chicken in this recipe as well to make it a main course salad but remove both the meat and cheese and you've got yourself a deliciously flavorful vegan autumn salad!
Toss up the kale, veggies, chicken, some of that goat cheese, cranberries, toasted pumpkin seeds, red quinoa, with a homemade apple cider vinaigrette, and you'll be ready to start off Autumn right. Roasted Brussel Sprout and Yam Quinoa Salad for the win!!
Roasted Brussel Sprout and Yam Quinoa Salad
- Total Time: 40 mins
- Yield: 4-6 1x
Ingredients
For the Salad
- Optional: 1 lb cooked sliced chicken breast
- 1 lb brussel sprouts, halved
- 1 lb yams, diced
- 1 bunch green kale, roughly chopped
- 1 bunch purple kale, roughly chopped
- ¼ cup red quinoa
- ¼ cup pumpkin seeds
- 4 ounces chèvre goat cheese
- 1 tablespoon brown sugar
- ½ teaspoon cinnamon
- Salt, pepper
- Olive oil
For the Vinaigrette
- ¾ cup extra-virgin olive oil
- ¼ cup apple cider vinegar
- 1-2 tablespoons white sugar
- ½ teaspoon salt
- ¼ teaspoon dijon mustard
Get Recipe Ingredients
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 400˚F. Grease a large baking pan.
- Make the vinaigrette: Whisk vinegar, olive oil, salt, mustard and sugar together in a bowl until sugar is dissolved; set aside.
- Toss brussel sprouts in a large bowl with a pinch of salt and pepper and a drizzle of olive oil. Pour onto prepared pan. Toss yams in the same bowl with a pinch of salt, brown sugar, cinnamon, and a drizzle of olive oil. Pour onto the pan.
- Arrange the yams and brussel sprouts into an even layer and place on a middle rack in the oven. Cook for 30 minutes, until softened. Remove from heat and set aside on a wire rack to cool. Keep the oven on.
- While vegetables are cooking, add quinoa and 1 cup water to a small pot. Bring to a boil, simmer for 15 minutes, until bran on quinoa is obviously visible. Remove from heat and set aside.
- Toast the pumpkin seeds for 1-2 minutes in the oven. Remove from heat and let cool.
- In a large mixing bowl, toss together kale, quinoa, yams, brussel sprouts, pumpkin seeds, and dried cranberries with the vinaigrette. Top with chèvre cheese, chicken if using, and serve.
- Prep Time: 10 mins
- Cook Time: 30 mins
Dan says
This was a perfect dish because salad is best served with hunks of meat in top of it. I do enjoy brussel sprouts these days so that's also a bonus.
Jessie | Kitschen Cat says
Yum!! This looks like a perfect dish to add to the Thanksgiving menu 🙂
Paula says
How many calories per serving?
Lori says
How long do you think this will last - for leftovers? Assume you could serve leftovers cold? Or how would you suggest reheating?
Pamela says
Great great salad! Will definitely make it again!
Abby says
I assume that you leave the oven on after taking the veggies out in order to cook the chicken breasts? There are no instructions in the recipe on how to cook the chicken. (I can figure it out on my own, but still...) Otherwise it looks great, and I'm going to do this for my low-key Thanksgiving!
Sonya says
Excellent recipe! We had something like this in a restaurant this fall, so I was looking for a recipe to recreate. We did not have any goat cheese, but I can see that would be yummy! We sprinkled some pistachios on instead of pumpkin seeds this time. Very easy to customize. Thanks so much!