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This salad is not only delicious, but it is a clean eating way to make your thanksgiving dinner extra nutritious and memorable. This satisfying salad includes whole grain fibre, antioxidants and anti-inflammatory ingredients that pack a punch in terms of nutrition.

The Orange Balsamic Vinaigrette makes it so addictive that it will become a favourite!

Entertaining Ideas

Day before your Dinner: Prepare the vinaigrette, cook the grains, roast squash and brussels sprouts and refrigerate till serving time.

Day of your Dinner: Simply combine all the ingredients, dress the salad and serve!

Mega Nutritious Winter Salad

This salad is a great addition to your holiday dinners!
Print Recipe Pin Recipe
Prep Time 30 minutes
Cook Time 1 hour
Total Time 1 hour 30 minutes
Course Salad
Cuisine #Canadian
Servings 4

Ingredients
  

  • 1 cup farro (you can use sorghum or barley, as well) rinsed
  • 1 1/2 lb butternut squash peeled, seeded
  • 6 tbsp extra-virgin olive oil divided
  • 1 tbsp ground black pepper divided
  • 1 tsp sea salt
  • ½ tsp turmeric
  • 4 cups brussels sprouts trimmed and sliced in half
  • 2 cloves garlic finely chopped
  • 2 tbsp balsamic vinegar
  • 2 tbsp fresh orange juice
  • 1 head radicchio or mixed greens trimmed and roughly chopped
  • 6 tbsp chopped unsalted walnuts toasted
  • 1 tbsp orange zest

Instructions
 

Whole Grain – Sorghum, Farro, or Barley.

  • Bring a medium pot of salted water to a boil. Add farro (or sorghum or barley). When water returns to a boil, reduce heat to medium and simmer, uncovered, until tender, approximately 40 minutes, drain. Let cool.
  • In the oven, on a baking sheet toast the walnuts. Let cool.
  • Roughly chop the radicchio or mixed greens (if you are using).

Roasted Vegetables

  • Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.
  • Peel and seed the squash. Cut the brussels sprouts in half or cut in thin slices.
  • Line a large rimmed baking sheet with parchment paper. Add squash and brussels sprouts with 1 tbsp olive oil, salt and pepper. Roast the vegetables until they are tender.
  • During the last ten minutes of cooking the vegetables, add the garlic. Remove the vegetables from the oven and let them cool.

Orange Balsamic Vinaigrette

  • In a medium bowl, whisk remaining olive oil, balsamic vinegar, orange juice, pepper and salt, until combined.

Putting the Salad Together

  • In a bowl add chopped radicchio, cooked farro, squash, brussels sprouts, turmeric.
  • Add the vinaigrette and toss well.
  • Top the salad with the toasted walnuts and the orange zest! Serve!

Notes

Note:
If you want to serve this salad as a main for lunch or a light dinner, simply add a cup of chopped roasted chicken. 
Keyword #salad, brusselssprouts, butternutsquash, wintersalad
Tried this recipe?Let us know how it was!

Whole Grains

This salad includes a nutrient rich grain of your choice. My absolute favourite is Farro!

  1. Sorghum – is a versatile, nutrient -rich cereal grain from a genus of grasses.
  2. Farro – is a grain of any of three species of hulled wheat, namely einkorn, emmer, or spelt, sold dried and cooked in water until soft.
  3. Barley – is a major cereal grain with a chewy, nutty flavor that is one of the world’s first cultivated grains.

These grains are all an excellent source of both soluble fiber (like beta-glucan, which helps lower cholesterol and control blood sugar) and insoluble fiber (which aids digestion).  They provide protein, magnesium, phosphorus, and various B vitamins, and is an excellent source of manganese, selenium, and thiamin. 

Oh, by the way, those are my last roses and lavender from my garden!

Enjoy!