A quick and easy, healthy, one dish quinoa salad with roasted squash, sweet pineapple and crunchy macadamia nuts! Perfect for Summer!
I forewarned you guys. I even told you that I was forewarning you, so this pineapple and macadamia nut including recipe should come as no surprise.
Which meansssss you should have all the ingredients on hand since you were anticipating something on the tropicalish-pineappleish-not-letting-go-of-Summer-everish side right? Good stuff.
But seriously guys, I actually had dreams of this sweet, crunchy, creamy quinoa salad squash bowl. (Side note: How many descriptors can Taylor fit into a sentence – a game I play with myself since I am totally cool and not lame at all.) I am not even exaggerating like normal. Actual dreams fo’ reals. Another side note: it was actually funny, cause I woke up in the middle of the night and it seemed like the hubs was having some sort of nightmare, so I woke up him from his misery. I asked him what he was dreaming about – something about our Jeep and a scary forest? – and he asked if I was having a nightmare too, since I was awake at 2am. I was all “nope, just dreaming of sweet, tropical squash bowls.”
Maybe it’s not thatttt funny. You had to be there. Going with that.
Anyway.
Quinoa is kind of a new thing for me. As always, I am kind of late to hop on the trendy things bandwagon just like when we ate kale in our superfood paleo brownies and coconut oil in our Deep Dish Paleo Chocolate Chip Cookies for 2 . I didn’t want to try it ’cause the name intimidated me. I don’t eat things I can’t pronounce. Or things with a face. You know, just in case you were wondering.
Moving on. I was that girl saying “kwin-oh-ahhh.” Luckily, I have Google. It told me that I looked silly and should really say “keen-wahh.” Now that the name doesn’t intimidate me, I want to eat it always since it is SO SO fun to say. Keen waahhhhh. Just like mawheee mawheee
I get way too much enjoyment out of rambling writing these posts.
Ya’ll know how I feel about squash (<3) and, in this spicy-sweet-and-a-little-but-salty bowl, it gives a creamy bite that complements the fluffy-but-still-a-little-crunchy quinoa. Throw in some toasted macadamia nuts and coconut and hit it with a blast of cooling cilantro, and this bowl is a serious party for your taste buds. Not to mention, it is healthy times a billion.
So healthy that you could even justify a few Mai Tais. You know, just to really take the whole Tropical thing and run with it.
Ingredients
- 2 Cups Kabocha or Butternut squash cubed (1 inch pieces)
- 2 tsps Melted Coconut oil
- 1 tsp Ginger powder
- 1 Tbsp Splenda
- 2/3 Cup Onion chopped
- 2/3 Cup Pineapple tidbits
- 2 Tbsp Macadamia nuts toasted
- 2 Tbsp Unsweetened coconut flakes toasted
- 1/3 Cup Quinoa
- 2/3 Cup Water
- Pinch of salt
- 1/4 cup Cilantro chopped
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 400 degrees.
- Chop the squash into 1 inch cubes and put into a medium bowl.
- Toss the squash with 2 tsps Coconut Oil, and spread onto a cookie sheet.
- Bake until fork tender, about 15-20 minutes.
- While the Squash cooks, boil the 2/3 cup water over high heat.
- Once boiling, add in the 1/3 cup of quinoa and a pinch of salt, and reduce heat to low.
- Cook until the water is absorbed, about 15 minutes. Set aside.
- While all this happens, chop your 1/3 cup of onion and toss it with the 1/3 cup of pineapple tidbits.
- Preheat a grill pan (or an actual grill if you please) over medium/high heat and coat with cooking spray.
- Cook the pineapple and onion until it has nice grill marks, about 4-5 minutes. Set aside.
- When the squash has come out of the oven, you can throw the macadamia nuts and coconut flakes in. Cook them until they are golden brown. The macadamia nuts will take around 5-7 minutes, while the coconut flakes only take 2-3 minutes. Watch closely to make sure nothing burns!
- Now, it's time to throw it all together!
- In a large bowl, combine the cooked quinoa, squash, onion, pineapple, toasted macadamia nuts, and the coconut flakes.
- Chop some cilantro and mix it in as well.
- Divide between 2 plates and devour!
Recipes written and produced on Food Faith Fitness are for informational purposes only.
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