This Crispy Quinoa Winter Salad is warming, it is beautiful and delicious. We are big fans of using Spiced Nuts and this is even an easier version of them. Highly recommend this one for all of us missing the holiday season already.
Crispy Quinoa
-1 cup cooked quinoa
-2 tbsp olive oil or any flavoured oil you have. We used garlic and chilli oil.
-salt
1 Set the oven to 180C
2 Spread the cooked quinoa on a large baking sheet. Drizzle with oil and season with salt to taste. Toss until everything is coated. Spread again and bake in the oven for 20 minutes. Stir halfway to make sure it bakes evenly. The quinoa should change colour to golden and get lightly crispy. Set aside.
Roasted Winter Vegetables
-1 large sweet potato, cubed
-½ red onion, cubed
-2 cups Brussels sprouts, halved
-olive oil, the necessary
-Adobo Seasoning, to taste
1 Set the oven to 180C
2 In a bowl, toss the sweet potatoes with a drizzle of olive oil and Adobo Seasoning until evenly coated. Arrange in a baking tray and bake in the oven for 35 minutes or until nicely roasted. If you have an air fryer, you can save a lot of time by roasting the sweet potatoes there. It will take between 12 to 16 minutes, depending on your fryer. Once the sweet potatoes are done, set them aside.
3 Using the same bowl, toss the sprouts and onions with a bit of olive oil and Adobo Seasoning to taste. Spread on a baking sheet and roast in the oven for about 20 minutes or until the sprouts get nicely charred. Stir halfway. Set aside
Easy Spiced Nuts
-1 cup of walnuts, pecans, pistachios or almonds. We used only pecans but you can even use a mix of them.
-1 ½ tbsp runny honey
-½ tsp Adobo Seasoning
-⅓ Tajin
1 Set oven to 170C
2 In a bowl, mix the honey, Adobo Seasoning and Tajin. Add the nuts and make sure they are evenly coated in the mixture.
3 Arrange the nuts over a baking paper-lined tray, making sure they are separated from each other.
4 Place in the oven and bake for 5 minutes and take them out. Turn them around and place them back in the oven for another 3 minutes. If you do the nuts last, chances are your oven is quite hot so don’t leave them too long before checking them out. They should turn golden and must not burn. Keep an eye on them. Let them cool down for a couple of minutes before removing them from the tray.
Crispy Quinoa Winter Salad
-roasted winter vegetables
-spiced nuts
-dates or cranberries, to taste
-fresh thyme
1 In a bowl, mix the roasted sweet potatoes, sprouts and onions. Toss in the crispy quinoa and serve topped with dates, spiced nuts and fresh thyme.
Notes
- We used leftover veggies we had from Christmas but you can use any vegetables you like or have at hand! Carrots, parsnips, and cabbage work great too.
- Every layer is nicely seasoned so no need for any dressing for this salad.
- We have made other winter salads using a different version of spiced nuts. If you like these salads, check this one out here! It is fantastic too! Link to recipe here.
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