Fall Harvest Salad with Delicious Blueberry Balsamic Dressing
My husband and I love a big salad full of many textures and flavors. Every once in a while he’ll request a new one so then I come up with something. This one was a huge hit and I knew it needed to be on the blog. The dressing is sooooo good. It makes more than enough dressing for the salad so you can use it on other salads or as a dip too if you want. If you don’t want leftovers of the dressing, you probably could get away with halving the dressing ingredients.
Read the notes for lots of substitution ideas to fit your perfect taste. I served this with my favorite chicken on my blog. If you’re looking for other salad inspiration check out this chicken pomegranate salad or this honey mustard salad.
PrintFall Harvest Salad with Delicious Blueberry Balsamic Dressing
This Fall harvest salad is full of texture and bright flavors with a delicious blueberry balsamic dressing.
- Prep Time: 20 minutes
- Cook Time: 20 minutes
- Total Time: 40 minutes
- Yield: serves about 6 1x
Ingredients
Butternut Squash-
1 small butternut squash peeled and cut into 1/2 inch cubes. (about 2 cups)
2 tablespoons olive oil
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon pepper
Quinoa-
1/3 cup quinoa
2/3 cup vegetable broth
Dressing-
1/2 cup olive oil
1/4 cup balsamic vinegar
1/8 teaspoon garlic powder
1/4 cup blueberry jam
1 tablespoon real maple syrup (or honey)
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/8 teaspoon pepper
Salad-
2 cups finely cut kale
3 cups spinach
1 medium apple cut into small cubes
1/3 cup craisins
1/3 cup chopped pecans (or almond slivers)
2 tablespoons sunflower seeds or pumpkin seeds
1/3 cup feta cheese, crumbled
Instructions
Preheat oven to 450 F. and line a baking sheet with foil and lightly spray with non-stick spray (or a silipat mat).
Mix the butternut squash cubes with the olive oil, salt and pepper and pour onto the baking sheet in an even layer. Roast for 10 minutes before flipping and roasting another 10 minutes, or until tender.
While the squash is roasting, start the Quinoa by combining the quinoa and broth in a small saucepan on the stove over medium heat. Once the broth is boiling, cover with a lid and reduce heat to low and cook for about 15 minutes. Fluff with fork and let cool for about 10 minutes before adding it to the salad.
While the Quinoa is cooking combine all the dressing ingredients into a dressing shaker or a small bowl and whisk together till combined.
In a large serving or mixing bowl pour about 2 tablespoons of the dressing on the thinly cut kale and use your fingers to massage the dressing with the kale. This will help the kale be less bitter and more tender. Add the rest of the salad ingredients into the bowl and toss together. Add the Quinoa and butternut squash and toss together again. Pour about half the dressing onto the salad and add more to taste.
Notes
You can make so many substitutions to this salad to make it to your taste. Here are some examples-
Add more spinach and forget the kale.
Swap thinly sliced almonds for chopped pecans.
Use wild rice or brown rice instead of quinoa.
Use strawberry jam or raspberry jam instead of blueberry jam.
Use white cheddar cheese instead of feta crumbles.
Add protein by simply adding shredded chicken.
Keywords: salad, fall salad, butternut squash, salad dressing, quinoa, feta cheese, craisins, nuts, pecans, seeds, grain bowl
