We were all so quinoa crazy a few years about and I’m bringing back the love! Check out these beautiful, nutritious and amazingly nutritious fruit and quinoa salads. Most have enough protein to make a balanced and satisfying meal, but you can also add your favorite protein — like shrimp, salmon, or beef – to the toss!
Actually, I’ve never given up my love for this ancient grain (which is actually a seed) that boosts your diet with nutrients like B-vitamins, magnesium, phosphorus, potassium, calcium, vitamin E, and fiber. Additionally, quinoa is also one of only a few plant foods considered a complete protein, containing all nine essential amino acids.
Pomegranate Orange Quinoa Salad: This festive quinoa salad featuring pomegranate and orange is lovely for seasonal celebrations but can be made year-round for weeknight dinners thanks to those little tubs of pomegranate arils. The simple creamy dressing has a vinaigrette vibe but with Greek yogurt and date syrup for even more flavor.
Watermelon Raspberry Quinoa Salad with Ginger Mint Dressing: This fully-loaded watermelon quinoa salad is made hearty enough for a full meal with quinoa, sunflower seeds, feta cheese, loads of greens, juicy watermelon and raspberries. The Ginger Mint Dressing is so aromatic and invigorating, and easy to make in a personal blender.
Clementine Quinoa Kale Salad with Minty Poppy Seed Dressing: Clementines or any other type of “easy-peeler” tangerines (like Halos, Cuties, etc.) are fun to eat – even in a fruit quinoa salad! Get your boost of vitamin C (from the citrus + kale) in this fiber-loaded salad.
Maple, Pecan, Raisin Butternut Squash Quinoa Salad: While this quinoa salad might be screaming fall, it’s a taste sensation to make year-round. If you can’t source butternut squash, you can usually find a bag of cubed quash in the freezer aisle. If you’re not a fan of raisins (but trust me, that add so much YUM to this recipe), they can be left out.
Super Clean Strawberry Spinach Quinoa Salad with Zingy Vinaigrette: This strawberry quinoa salad is crave-worthy with baby spinach tossed into nutty quinoa and walnuts. It’s all balanced with a subtle sweet-tart flavor thanks to juicy berries and crispy Granny Smith apples and zingy vinaigrette
Oven Butternut Squash Risotto with Shrimp makes a comforting, delicious and arguably balanced meal-in-a-pot boasting a whole grain, vegetable and protein.
Plus, this butternut risotto cooks up fast and with much less hands-on prep than a traditional risotto recipe – there is no endless stirring at the stove top. Instead, the rice bakes up in the oven for 20-minutes, being stirred up with Parmesan cheese just as serving.
With olive oil and simple spices, the oven-roasted shrimp only take 10 minutes to make and can be popped into the oven on a baking sheet, at the second half of the rice timer. This way, the shrimp and risotto and done at the same time!
Ingredients for the butternut risotto are simple and easy!
Learning how to make oven butternut squash risotto is a game changer. Use a Dutch oven pot in the oven and just walk away until done – this method has freed me up to finish other dinner chores and/or just have more time to connect with family members who have gathered in the kitchen to investigate the inviting, comfort food aromas wafting about.
Plus, elevating oven risotto with butternut squash helps keep the dish creamy, adds an earthy, lightly sweet flavor, and increases the nourishing benefits with dietary fiber, vitamin A, and more. To keep the oven butternut squash with shrimp recipe simple, I purchase fresh-cubed butternut squash in the produce department. However, you can also cut up your own squash and/or use a bag of thawed frozen butternut chunks.
If you are just learning how to make risotto in the oven or traditionally (or you’ve had a risotto fail in the past), please note that you should NOT use a long-grained rice. A short-grained rice offers the signature creamy results of a classic risotto and Arborio rice is a common variety used. Some medium-grain rice may be used, too.
Some people call this method “cheater’s risotto,” however I see nothing suspect about it, lol! It’s just a smart way to get a nourishing meal on the table fast! I typically pair my cheater’s butternut squash risotto with an apple kale salad for extra fall-season flair.
If you want to keep the recipe non-dairy, you can swap a non-dairy butter alternative for the butter and use an alternative to Parmesan cheese, like Parma.
Making the shrimp is just as easy, toss together olive oil, garlic salt and paprika and bake alongside the risotto during the last 8 minutes.
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Oven Butternut Squash Risotto withShrimp makes a comforting, delicious and arguably balanced meal-in-a-pot boastinga whole grain, vegetable and protein. It’s so simple and easy to make, an under30 minute meal with little hand-on effort, many call this oven method “cheater’srisotto” – but it’s totally legit!
Course:
dinner, dinner, entree, entree
Cuisine:
American
Keyword:
butternut squash, rice, risotto, shrimp
Servings: 4
Ingredients
2tablespoonsolive oil
1tablespoonminced garlic
1cuparborio riceor other short to medium grain rice
1/3cupwhite winecan omit
3 ½cupsreduced sodium chicken broth
1 10-ouncebag chopped butternut squashproduce dept shelf or frozen and thawed
½teaspoonsea salt
½teaspoonground white pepper
1tablespoonsbutteror non-dairy butter alternative
2/3cupgrated Parmesan cheeseor non-dairy Parmesan alternative
20large shrimpshelled and veined (thawed if frozen)
1tablespoonolive oil
2teaspoonspaprika
1teaspoongarlic salt
Instructions
Preheat oven to 400F degrees.
In 3.5-quart Dutch oven with lid, heat oil over medium heat on stove top. Add garlic and rice and stir around for 2 minutes to toast rice.
Pour in wine to deglaze pan, stirring around over heat, stirring until mostly evaporated. Add chicken broth and butternut squash cubes and bring to a boil for 1 minutes.
Put lid on pot and place on middle rack of oven, baking for 20-mintues.
Meanwhile, quickly prepare shrimp by placing on rimmed baking sheet and tossing with olive oil, salt, and paprika.
In the last 6 to 8 minutes of cooking the risotto, place pan of prepared shrimp in the oven. Roast until the shrimp are pink and just cooked through, about 6 to 8 minutes.
Remove rice from oven, most of the water should have been absorbed. If it still looks a little watery, let cool for 5 minutes with lid off before stirring in butter and cheese.
Serve risotto with shrimp and garnish with finely chopped fresh sage and a little extra Parmesan cheese, if desired.
Kicking off January with a batch of comforting enchiladas – creative, delicious and healthy enchiladas at that! Butternut Squash Black Bean Enchilada Casserole is great for meal-prep (can be cut into squares and frozen) and suitable for vegetarian diets, gluten-free diets and those following an anti-inflammatory diet.
Read on to get his inspired by the southwest enchilada casserole recipe. Continue reading →
Fish is a fabulous protein that fits swimmingly into a healthy diet and lifestyle . . .but sometimes, you (and by you, I mean me, lol) can get stuck in a flavor rut. You know, lemon this and Parmesan that.
I decided to add some fall flair to my latest fish dinner by incorporating a few of my favorite seasonally inspired ingredients. Check out this recipe for Maple Butternut Squash Sablefish Stir Fry – not only does it have an ahhhhh-mazingly autum vibe, but did you know that Sablefish (aka Black Cod) has more heart-healthy omega fatty acids than salmon?! Continue reading →
Behold the butternut! It’s a big ole winter squash, but don’t let the size intimidate you and keep you from making butternut squash recipes! It’s delicious, healthy, versatile as a recipe ingredient and really not that hard to prep (plus, you can always have the store do the work).
I’ve got bounty of fit and fast butternut squash recipes, from snacks to salads to soups, that will help you use up all the butternut squash you’ve been blessed with! Read on for a week’s worth of my favorite dishes: Continue reading →
