**Roasted Butternut Squash with Quinoa**
NEW MEAL in my rotation!
Butternut Squash is a new squash for me! It has a sweet, nutty taste similar to that of a pumpkin. You had me at SWEET!
I made the prep work for this a bit easier on myself by buying the butternut squash precut in cubes and I cooked the quinoa early too! You can also pre-roast the squash to save time, but it’s nice to have it freshly cooked. In fact, now that I’ve done the roasting, I’ll even just have the squash as a side dish from now on 
🙂
I had chicken as the a protein with some cherry tomatoes on the side, so that gave me a complete meal! I couldn’t convince anyone else to eat this one with me, so now I have a couple of lunches for the week for sure!
Ingredients
- One (2-pound) butternut squash, peeled, seeded, and cut into 3/4-inch chunks (about 3 cups) YOU CAN BUY THIS PRE-CUBED!
- 5 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
- 2 teaspoons fresh thyme leaves, roughly chopped
- Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper
- ¼ cup shelled pistachios – chopped
- 1 cups quinoa
- 2 cups vegetable broth or water
- ¼ cup dried cranberries
- 1 tablespoon white wine vinegar
- 3 ounces baby spinach
Steps
Preheat to 400°F and line a rimmed baking sheet with foil – set aside.
Place the cubed squash in a medium bowl and add 3 tablespoons of the oil, the thyme and 2 teaspoons of salt and season with pepper to taste. Mix until the squash is well coated.
Transfer to the prepared baking sheet and spread squash out into a single layer. Roast for about 30 minutes, until a knife slides into the squash easily, stirring about halfway through the cooking time.
Put the pistachios on a small baking sheet and toast until fragrant, about 5 minutes. I chopped mine with a chopper or you can leave them whole.
While the squash roasts, rinse the quinoa in cold water in a fine-mesh strainer. Cook the quinoa in the broth according to the package directions. Keep an eye on it!
Drain the quinoa and transfer it to a medium bowl. Add the remaining 2 tablespoons olive oil, the pistachios, cranberries, vinegar, 1/2 teaspoon salt and pepper to taste.
Place the spinach in a large mixing bowl and toss with the hot squash until slightly wilted. Add the quinoa mixture and toss again.
Serve warm.