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.
Featuring all new, protein-packed salads, hearty toppers, flavour boosters, and dressings you'll want to drink, my new cookbook will transform the way you think about salads. Oh, and be sure to flip to the back for a surprise dessert chapter!
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!
Made this for dinner tonight. Carnivorous husband, ornery 3 year old, and mostly veggie me all loved it – WIN! I feel as if it will become my go to “potato salad” for family gatherings. It offers so much more nutrition compared to the standard and is infinitely more delicious – thank you!
It was so delicious! The ultimate comfort food!
I adore ukon gold potatoes – so creamy and delicious! The ultimate comfort food! This sounds delicious. Thank you for sharing!
Hannah :-)
www.eatingwithalice.com
I just ordered your book this past weekend!
So excited to give it a review.
Delicious recipe. Love your blog. Congrats on baby! Happy New Year:)
My husband and I inhaled this over the weekend and sadly there were no leftovers to take to work today. I had some sweet potatoes to use up, so I substituted that for the Yukon Gold potatoes and I threw in some chickpeas for good measure.
My favourite part is the crunchy pepita seeds (yum!) and my husband’s exact words were “it tastes like butter” (aka major win!).
I made this recipe last night but roasted cauliflower and broccoli and some chickpeas to add with it. It was hearty and filling. My picky son even wanted to try a bite of the roasted broccoli and quinoa.
Another great recipe Angela!
My girlfriend and I are big fans, keep up the good work!
I made this last night for lunch this week – so good! I did made some substitutions based on preference and what I had at home, including spinach instead of kale, apple cider vinegar instead of red wine vinegar. Also added chickpeas and avocado for serving. I think this makes the perfect lunch because it is so well-balanced nutritionally, and its delicious. I was looking forward to eating it all morning. Definitely will make again!
This is perfect! I just went out and bought mason jars, glass containers, thermoses and lunch boxes so my boyfriend can stop spending all of our money on lunch. I’ve been looking around all weekend for ideas for his lunches and he will LOVE this one.
Oh wow this looks amazing, I can’t wait to try it this week! By the way, those are quite possibly the nicest looking avocado slices that I’ve ever seen :)
I made this last night for dinner and it was awesome!!! Thank you :)
I’m really looking forward to trying to make this when I finally reach home tomorrow night for the first time in a year.
The idea of snuggling up inside my jumper with a bowl of this sounds great.
I just made this recipe. It’s very simple and so nourishing! I love the warmth.
-Tara
themountaincreative.com
My husband said, “Even though it was just vegetables, it was so filling and savory.” LOL. This was fantastic. It was really a big bowl of comfort as another post said. So delicious. I love how all the different ingredients melded together, and the creamy avocado was the perfect end taste. Just perfect, really.
I made this on the weekend and it was delicious! Fairly simple to make, and a HUGE hit for the family, vegetarians and non-vegetarians alike. Thank you! :)
Great easy recipe and so tasty! Just made it and it hit the spot on this cold snowy day. Will add to my rotation of regular recipes.
Me Hoozbeen and I just demolished a batch of this for dinner tonight, with barely any left for lunches tomorrow! YUM.
It was delicious, hearty and healthy. Bonus is that it was super fast and easy to put together !! Thanks so much !
What a winner! I made this last night and my husband commented that this was probably his favorite recipe that I have made of yours! Close second are vegan enchildas with cilantro cream sauce :) Thanks for sharing and so looking forward to all the newbies in the 2nd book!
This recipe was delicious and very easy to prepare. My husband even commented on how he doesn’t normally like green beans! The dressing was delicious, we definitely had seconds and plan on eating again for lunch. <3