
This salad is a good example of how I love my salads in the winter – warm, hearty, and bursting with nutrition. Like a big hug. I have no desire to eat a cold salad right now (unless it’s this one, I suppose). It’s light, but still has that “stick to your ribs” quality I crave soooo much right now. Give me all the healthy comfort food!
I started by roasting Yukon Gold potatoes (one of my all-time favourite winter comfort foods!) and crunchy green beans with a bit of olive oil and a generous seasoning of sea salt and pepper. While it’s roasting, whip up a batch of quinoa (speltberries or millet might be nice too) and chop some green onion and kale. Whisk together a simple red wine vinaigrette and we’ll add some freshly roasted garlic (if you are already roasting veggies, you might as well roast a few cloves of garlic too!). When the potatoes and green beans are golden and lightly charred on the bottoms, throw it into a big bowl and fold in the quinoa, dressing, green onions, and kale. Toss on a big handful of pepita seeds for crunch and my favourite salad topper – sliced avocado. It’s the perfect soul-soothing, warm bowl of comfort food in the middle of January.


Warm and Roasted Winter Quinoa Bowl

Yield
6 servings
Prep time
Cook time
Total time
This is the ultimate bowl of winter comfort food! Yukon Gold potatoes and green beans are roasted until crisp and golden and then tossed with warm quinoa, shredded kale, green onion, and a speedy roasted garlic and red wine vinaigrette. I topped this cozy bowl with crunchy toasted pepita seeds and creamy sliced avocado. Feel free to swap the potatoes with whatever variety you have on hand (yellow or red potatoes work great in a pinch). Spelt berries or millet might be a nice sub for the quinoa if you feel like changing up the grain.
Ingredients
For the salad:
- 2 large (400 g) Yukon Gold potatoes, chopped into 1/2-inch chunks (2 1/2 cups)
- 12 ounces (350 g) green beans, trimmed and chopped into 1-inch pieces (3 cups)
- 3 large garlic cloves, peel left on
- 1 tablespoon (15 mL) extra-virgin olive oil
- Fine sea salt and freshly ground black pepper, to taste
- 1 cup (200 g) uncooked quinoa
- 1 cup (40 g) stemmed and finely chopped kale (optional)
- 3 medium (50 g) green onions, thinly sliced (optional)
- 1/4 cup (40 g) toasted pepita seeds
- 1 large ripe avocado, pitted and sliced
For the dressing:
- 1/4 cup (60 mL) red wine vinegar
- 1/4 cup (60 mL) extra-virgin olive oil
- 2 teaspoons (10 mL) Dijon mustard
- 1/4 teaspoon fine sea salt
- Freshly ground pepper, to taste
- 1 tablespoon (15 mL) pure maple syrup, or to taste
Directions
- Preheat oven to 400°F (200°C) and line one extra-large baking sheet (or two large baking sheets) with parchment paper.
- Place the chopped potatoes, green beans, and garlic cloves (leaving the peel on) onto the baking sheet. Toss with the oil and season with a generous amount of salt and pepper. Spread into an even layer.
- Roast for 15 minutes, then remove from the oven and flip before continuing to roast for about 10 to 20 more minutes until the potatoes and beans are tender and golden brown in some spots.
- Meanwhile, cook the quinoa by adding it to a medium pot along with 1 3/4 cups (430 mL) water. Bring to a low boil before reducing heat to medium-low. Cover and cook for 12 to 14 minutes, until the water is absorbed and the quinoa is fluffy. Remove from heat, fluff with a fork, and leave the lid on to keep warm.
- Prepare the dressing: In a small bowl, whisk all of the dressing ingredients together and set aside.
- When the vegetables are finished roasting, trim the end off each garlic clove and push the roasted garlic out. Mash the garlic with a fork, then whisk it into the dressing until combined.
- Spoon the potatoes and beans into a large serving bowl. Now add the quinoa along with the kale and green onions (if using). Pour all of the dressing onto the vegetables and toss to coat.
- Season with salt and pepper (to taste) and top with pepitas and sliced avocado. Serve immediately. The salad will keep in an airtight container in the fridge for a few days. Leftovers can be reheated in an oiled skillet over medium heat until warmed through. It's great cold, too!
Tip:
To boost the protein even more, try adding chickpeas (roasted, if desired), adzuki beans, Great Northern beans, or lentils.
Nutrition Information
(click to expand)
A huge thank you to those of you who volunteered to be a recipe tester for my second cookbook! I’m blown away by the response – I wish I could take you all up on your offer to help. If you aren’t emailed by the end of next week, don’t despair. There’s a good chance that I will need more help in the future so I might end up emailing more volunteers down the road. I will keep your submissions on file if that’s ok with you (no pressure if you can no longer volunteer, of course). PS – I haven’t emailed anyone yet, but I should be sending out an email within a couple weeks once I get my testing site ready to roll. Thank you a million!
This recipe looks amazing and is just what I’ve been craving! Can’t wait to whip it up soon! Thanks Angela!
This warm salad looks amazing! The perfect winter lunch. Thanks for sharing the recipe!
This salad looks amazing! Can’t get enough potatoes :P. Definitely have to try it :)
I don’t like eating cold salads in the middle of winter so this looks right up my alley! Raw, cold veggies just don’t sound super appealing to me when there’s snow on the ground!
Agreed….I guess I just have to get it out of my head that salads are always cold and contain, you know, green salad! Absolutely love how you roasted garlic and included oh so wonderful Yukon gold potatoes. And green beans are fab too, was reading that green beans are one of the best foods for diabetics. Not diabetic but hyperglycemic so blood sugar is all over the place. Was actually advised by a trusted DR. to carry candy bars with me at all times to eat when blood sugar gets low!!!
Agreed, Aex & Laura! Thanks for the inspiration, Angela :)
Dear Laura, I’m not sure about your condition but I have had hypoglycemia (which is likely a pre-diabetic stage as far as I know) and I have a stable blood sugar level now because I quit eating fast sugar/carbs for over a year, I indeed also needed to carry some (slow) carbs around anytime and had to eat every 2h in the beginning, but it helped me greatly. I think this may not be the place to comment on this but your response troubled me… and I am not an M.D., but I am trained in internal medicine/diabetes (I am a medical psychologist) so I am not totally shooting in the dark (apart from my personal experience) when I say you should at least avoid fast sugars/carbs if you have what I think you have. This all happend 7 years ago for me and my health has greatly improved since then. Best regards
Just tried this today and it is absolutely phenominal!!! thank you!
Looks delicious! can’t wait to try it! Thanks Angela :D
This really is a healthy bowl of comfort! Looks wonderful!
This recipe looks delish! I just wanted to say I recently got your cookbook and so far, everything I’ve made has been AMAZING! It’s so hard to find a cookbook where literally every recipe comes out good and tastes good, but yours is fabulous. :)
I am allll for big, warm salads in the winter! Roasted veggies are really the BEST
Yum! I can’t wait to try this one! Even though I live in San Diego and don’t need to much extra warmth in the winter, this salad looks amazing! Thank you :)
Circus & Bloom
This is the perfect comfort food!! In salad form – who knew?? I have been eating a lot of raw, cold veggies lately (which I love) but I know I will get hooked on this alternative. Great pack-able lunch for work too!! =)
Jill
Looks awesome! Making this on Saturday!
How funny you posted this! I made almost an identical salad for a Christmas celebration last weekend, except I used sweet potatoes! What a delicious salad!
Sweet potatoes would be great too! I’ll have to try that.
I made it with sweet potatoes last night! I also used half rainbow quinoa (ran out ;-) and half Super Grains. I also substituted avo with feta. My hubby usually rolls his eyes at my “rabbit food” but he loved it! (he added sriracha) I wish the nutrition was included too — I keep adding it to MyFitnessPal but it won’t take :-(
Hey, I got this recipe in MyFitnessPal with little issue. Do you paste the webpage into the recipe section??
Sounds perfect. I wish I had for lunch right now!
Well this sounds divine, and I like every single ingredient. Salads can be oh-so-fancy! :)
I was just thinking about how all I wanted for dinner was a warm salad. That dressing looks delicious! How long do you think it’d keep in the fridge?
I so enjoy your thoughtfulness in putting together these recipes. They are protein-packed, nutrient dense, and have a good mix of crunchy, creamy, oh-my-goodness-I’m-devouring-the-bowl appeal. Not to mention they are always so appetizing looking! From someone who is doing GF, no soy and low/no salt, I appreciate loving to cook again! Thanks, Angela!
I agree, all the recipes featured are so well put together with attention to detail. Makes it really exciting to get into the kitchen and get going.
Kathy,
I am with you on this :) I also can’t eat Carrageanen.
Trying this recipe tomorrow… So excited!
This looks delicious!! And I agree, warm salads are the way to go this time of year. I think I will sub sweet potatoes for the yukon gold and whip it up in the next few days. Thanks:)
This is making me think that I really need to start eating warm salads. This sounds fantastic.
That sounds absolutely amazing. I think I need to make it after I go to the store this weekend. :-)
I love warm salads in the winter too. They are so comforting! As always, thanks so much for this recipe and I will have to add it to my list!